


Damian and Mar'i 2 - Nightstar

by Quinis



Series: Damian and Mar'i [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Damian still doesn't approve, Dick's secret lovechild, Gen, Other Batfamily members to appear later on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-05-11 17:33:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 36,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5635699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinis/pseuds/Quinis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Dick asked her what city she wanted to work in. Mar'i had answered without hesitation. Gotham; her father's city. The Batman's city.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: So this is the sequel to 'Damian and Mar'i'. Mar'i's now 16 and Damian's 18-ish. Dick and Damian are the only two in Gotham who know that Mar'i is Dick Grayson's daughter. ...I really don't know what else to say so, have at it?

 

**Chapter 1 - Nightstar**

* * *

Gotham City. Under the cover of darkness, its lights glittered like stars. It was under this darkness that a sixteen year old girl and her father arrived in the city after months of travelling.

"It's beautiful," Mar'i sighed happily as she perched on the gargoyle like a purple bird.

"You think that now-" her father started in a joking tone, cutting himself off when she glared at him. Her green eyes glowed in the darkness. "Okay," he laughed, "it's beautiful."

"That's right," she said with a tone of finality. Dick had been making frequent trips back here during her time training.

Mar'i had finally managed to convince him that she was going to use her abilities and skills to fight crime like he did, whether he liked it or not. Therefore, before she turned sixteen, Dick offered to take her around the world for some training.

Now, her training was done. She just had to prove she could actually mange it.

"Alright, let's go to the new apartment. After all, you start school tomorrow."

Mar'i groaned. She had chosen Gotham so she now lived with her dad. Her dad insisted that she continue her schooling in an actual school while fighting crime. It was a small price to pay.

"Just so you know, tomorrow is going to be the longest day of your life," Dick said to her with a smile.

Mar'i laughed at the reminder of the story of her dad's first day as Robin.

"Thanks, dad."

* * *

Mar'i quickly learnt that her dad was right. It was. The longest. Day. Of her life.

She went to school. She spent the day resting her head in her arms and pretending to listen to the teachers. Meanwhile the clock ticked at such a slow place that she thought there be a villain trying to stop time or something.

There wasn't. It was just waiting for the night to fall and her time to come that made the clock run slow.

Finally, the bell rang and she ran out of school like a shot. It was difficult to keep her feet on the ground but she managed.

"Let's go, Dad!" she cried out as she bolted towards his motorcycle. He was wearing a helmet, to keep people from identifying him.

"Put it on, we'll talk at home," he said with a smile in his tone as he tossed her a helmet. He knew how excited she was, he had been that way on his first night as well. It was nice to see, even if he wasn't completely sold on her doing this. "I know you're raring to go but there's still a few more hours to go. Did you get any homework?"

* * *

Homework was finished quickly. Maths was the simplest thing ever, especially to a half-Tamaranean. English was a little harder. Science was easy and uninteresting as she had learnt all of it already.

English was probably the hardest and even so, it wasn't that hard.

"Finished already?" Dick questioned when she began packing her books away.

"Yep. Can we talk vigilante stuff now?" she responded.

Dick sighed and nodded.

"Okay. Remember, I'm not going to introduce you to Batman."

"I know that," Mar'i commented with a smirk. When her father was satisfied with her training, he asked her what city she wanted to work in. Mar'i had answered without hesitation. Gotham; her father's city. The Batman's city.

Nightstar was going to debut in Gotham but not as part of the Batman family. She wanted to meet them on her own terms, to do this herself and not as some established hero's partner. She certainly didn't want to be known as her father's partner or as ' _Grayson's daughter_ '.

"And I'm still not allowed to come with?" Dick said in a questioning manner.

"You're not coming. I have my comm so you can contact me if you need to." The last thing she needed was her father following her and throwing himself into danger on her behalf.

"Be safe and don't get shot."

* * *

Nightstar's outfit was a simple purple leotard which reached down to her wrists and a dark purple skirt around her. Her father had been slightly apprehensive about the lack of protection over her legs. Mar'i's response about how she was wearing lace-up combat boots which went part-way up her leg didn't ease his fears. They were also purple.

She thought the boots would be enough protection, even though they limited her flexibility a small bit due to the weight. She would adjust.

"Okay, so I'm just floating over Gotham-"

A sigh. "I really hope you're not literally floating. Ma-Nightstar, we talked about this."

"Oh come on. I'm not going to hide how I have powers."

"Half-Tamaranean powers," her father corrected, emphasising the 'half'. Certain Tamaranean powers were recognisable. Like Mar'i's pupil-less appearing and glowing eyes which were hidden behind her mask.

"Most people with powers can fly, dad. It doesn't give away anything. I could be an Amazon for all they know."

She could hear his teeth grinding on the other end as she forced him into a corner. It seemed she had been doing that a lot lately. Dick was just being so difficult about this. She wanted to help people. She didn't want them to hurt or die, not when she could help.

There was nothing worse than standing on the sidelines when she could actually do something!

"If it makes you happy, I won't float unless I need to," she relented, dropping down to sit on the roof of a tall building. "And I'll check in every 20 minutes. Now, I'm going to switch this off and go stop this guy from smashing the window of a jewellery store."

"Be safe," her father said for probably about the hundredth time that evening.

* * *

Nightstar was floating on cloud nine. She had received a 'thank you' after pulling a kid from a fire in the suburban districts. She tried to stick to the ground but, when that proved difficult, she used her father's tactics.

Nightstar burnt off the energy doing aerial tricks worthy of the big top.

Jump on a bin and use that to grab a fire escape and then do a number of flips to reach a roof before running and flipping over the gap between two buildings.

"Good night?" her father asked as she leapt through the window.

"The best!" Mar'i responded with a wide grin. She pulled her mask off and then started telling Dick all about her night.

When she was finished, he just smiled and made a comment about school the next day.

"Dad!" Mar'i whined.

"If your grades drop, then Nightstar will be grounded," he reminded her with a smile.

"I don't care if Batman did that to you, it's just plain mean," she grumbled as she went to her room.

* * *

Mar'i looked around the school. It was a nice place, sort of. It wasn't Gotham Academy, it was a public school with a range of students.

It was also big. She got lost trying to find her way to her biology class.

"Grr," she growled in annoyance as she exited another class which was not hers. "This is what I get for transferring in." She huffed in annoyance and decided to try another class. This time she opened the door and almost ran into a red haired boy. He was around her height, which meant he was tall as she was 'model height' like her mother.

"Is this year 11 bio?" she demanded to know with a tired and nervous grin.

"Uh. No. Year 12 English," the boy responded softly and gently. He was thin but strong as he took her hand. "I could show you where it is?"

"Fine," Mar'i responded, passing him her timetable. "I mean, thanks," she corrected, trying to remember her manners. He didn't have to help her and now he was probably going to be late as well.

The boy guided her to her class, their conversation mostly including him making guesses about her. He correctly assumed that she had recently transferred there but incorrectly guess that it was linked to her parents' work.

"Wilkes, this isn't your class," the teacher commented when they entered the right room.

"I-I know that, sir," the boy stuttered nervously, his face going slightly pink.

"It's not," Mar'i snapped in annoyance. It seemed that the teacher completely overlooked her presence. "It's mine. My name is Mar'i and I'm new."

The teacher made an annoyed noise before instructing her to take a seat.

"Thanks, Wilkes," Mar'i said to the boy.

"Uh, it's Colin," he mumbled in response. "Colin Wilkes."

"Thanks, Colin," Mar'i corrected before taking a seat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Batgirl**

* * *

Mar'i told her dad about the older boy after school. He had stilled when he heard the name. She knew it was because of the name because he asked her to repeat it.

"Colin Wilkes."

"Hm."

Dick was silent after that.

"You know that's really suspicious," Mar'i informed him.

He smirked at her. "Maybe I want you to be suspicious. Put a little mystery in your life."

"I don't need mystery, dad. Action and adventure are what I want."

"Of course."

* * *

Mar'i wondered about the mystery of Colin Wilkes but knew that answers would come in time. Instead, she focused on doing a good job as Nightstar. It would be beyond embarrassing if she received any injuries; not to mention her dad would probably pull her out in his over-protectiveness.

The city of Gotham seemed to sparkle at night. Lights were everywhere but in the dark sky. Mar'i found herself staying on rooftops, staying connected to the city due to the bright atmosphere.

It was rather odd that Gotham was considered one of the darker cities. The sky even lit up with a Bat Signal.

"I hope you're not thinking of answering that," a voice said from behind her. Nightstar jumped and twisted around.

"I thought you weren't going to follow me, Dad."

Dick Grayson smiled and gave a small bow. Nightstar knew she needed to get better so he wouldn't be able to sneak up on her like that again.

"Bats heard I was back in town. He probably expects me over there. I'll have your comm on me at all times but I'm guess you want me to pretend I don't know you."

"Hopefully we won't have to interact," Nightstar responded. "But, I guess."

Her dad smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder before vanishing into the lights below. Nightstar watched as he swung and leapt from building to building.

"Alright, my turn," she said to psych herself up. She went in the opposite direction, following the path she had mapped out earlier. A patrol route.

A few blocks in and she spotted some men taking TVs out of the smashed window of an electronics store.

"Shocking," she muttered. She hadn't been expecting people to be committing crimes out in the open. She started by sneaking around the dark side of their car and puncturing those two tires.

Then she ran around and managed to knock one out with the element of surprise. The others noticed her right away, standing over the body of their fallen comrade in crime.

She noticed that one of them ran away. The rest formed a semi-circle around her.

She internally scolded herself. She should have found a way to take a few more out before they noticed her.

"Really? You're going to fight a girl over a bunch of TVs?" she bantered. Two charged her.

She kicked at one's midsection, causing him to fall back to recover.

She elbowed the other in the jaw, probably not a smart move but he was down and out.

A third charged her and she used the momentum of his attack to toss him into the car. The thud his body made caused her to wince in sympathy.

The forth teamed up with the first to pull their guns on her. Nightstar dropped a smoke pellet and ducked out of the gun's predicted path before rushing criminal number one and knocking him out. The forth started running the moment he heard the body hit the ground but was tripped up as Nightstar hooked a grapple around his feet and tripped him.

Nightstar tied them all up and then called for the police.

"Nice job," a voice greeted her when she landed on the rooftop across the street.

Nightstar was not surprised, she had spotted the woman with purple highlights on the familiar black uniform watching.

"You're Batgirl!" she announced with a wide grin.

"You look like a fan," Batgirl responded with a smile. "Love the colour, girl!"

"Thanks."

"But, you probably shouldn't be fighting crime. I mean, we've got it all handled."

"We?" Nightstar questioned, fishing for information.

Batgirl twirled a strand of blond hair around her finger.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't think you work for Batman and this is his city. There are some who work outside of his influence with his permission but I don't think you're one of those. Who are you?"

"Nightstar."

"That doesn't sound very batty. Or birdy either."

"Maybe I'm the hero who'll bring naming sense to this city," Nightstar responded.

Batgirl laughed but then gave her another warning to quit.

"Did you just 'quit'?" Nightstar asked. She knew this woman's past. Stephanie Brown; the girl who didn't quit. She had even acted out against Mar'i's father when she decided to join Gotham's vigilante scene.

"I'd proud of what I do," Batgirl said. "But, we don't need more people in masks here."

Nightstar shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll meet again," she said, completely ignoring Batgirl's comments. They were part of the same family, even if Steph didn't know it.

* * *

The next day brought no more surprises, just more boring classes which Mar'i tried not to fall asleep in. She got home to a note from her dad.

He apologised but, even though they had just moved in, he was going out of town for some kind of mission. He would try and call her before patrol.

Mar'i wasn't happy about that. She should be going with him! That's what she had been training for. To help!

He couldn't tell her much when he did call. Mar'i hung up after a 'good night and be safe' and changed into Nightstar. She wasn't going to sit around and wait for her dad to get back, worrying all the time. She was going to get things done and help others.

Her mother had once told her that by helping others, her own problems would have less of a hold on her. That connections to other people helped.

Nightstar jumped out of her window. She let herself feel the pull of gravity as she fell towards the ground.

Kick off the building, extend the grapple line and swing around the lamp post and into the alley next to their apartment building.

She felt a little better.

Nightstar's first job for the night: help a lost little girl get home. The child had thought that they could run away and live in the sewers since their parents didn't pay any attention to them now that they had a new little sister and brother. But it was cold and unfamiliar and the child was scared. Nightstar helped the child home. The overworked couple had given the little girl a big hug and many thanks to Nightstar, which was cut short when one of the twins started crying.

Nightstar immediately noticed the bulky figure in the shadows across the street when they left.

"That was a nice thing you did," a gruff voice said when she got closer to the figure. It wasn't Batman, there was no sign of the cape and cowl. Instead, there was a hat and long jacket, like some kind of Noir era detective.

"Thank you," she responded. Mentally, she was taking all the clues she could to try and figure out who this was. There was a faster way, which both of her parents swore by. "Who are you?"

"I'm Abuse," he responded. "And you are?"

"Nightstar." Her father had mentioned an Abuse a few times. A friend of Robin's but she didn't know much more about him. She certainly didn't know that he was still working.

There was something else she was certain she was forgetting.

"Nice to meet you," he said, holding out a big hand for her to shake. It wrapped around her hand firmly and was there was the slight sheen of sweat on it.

"I know of you but, I didn't know you were still in Gotham," she said.

"Ah." He rubbed his neck nervously. "I probably won't ever leave Gotham. But, you know of me? That's curious."

Nightstar tilted her head in confusion.

"Most don't know about me. Even the Gotham police assume that my work is Batman's."

"That can't be true," Nightstar responded. Her dad had told her about Abuse so there was a chance that the police noticed his work. Especially since he seemed to have brass knuckles with 'Abuse' printed on them so that his punches would cause that mark on his enemies.

Abuse gave her a smile.

At that moment a dark figure dropped down from the rooftops, looking for Abuse.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Batman?**

* * *

The dark figure had the bat cowl on their head, were covered from shoulders to below the knees in a long dark grey jacket with the black bat-symbol across their chest and shoulders. Nightstar thought the expansive back collar which shielded their neck looked familiar. Black boots crunched the gravel and the glint of a yellow utility belt around their waist was the only colour on their outfit.

They were Batman but not Batman.

"Abuse, guess... who is that?" Batman growled to Abuse, cutting himself off as he pointed at Nightstar.

"Don't mind me," Nightstar responded. She held up her hands and smiled to illustrate her harmlessness.

Batman glared at her.

"Mar'i?" he questioned. The word, her name, sent a shot to her chest. Before she could register that she recognised this guy, she had to shut him up.

"Shh! Secret identities are important to some people!" she said, shoving both of the men further into the alley. Abuse was surprised at her strength while Batman moved before she could apply too much force.

"You have got to be kidding me," Batman huffed.

Abuse looked between the two. He then focused on Nightstar, causing a pit to grow in her stomach.

"You're... oh."

"Yeah. Oh," Batman sneered. "What are you doing on Gotham's streets and in that ridiculous costume?"

"Ridiculous?" she growled back at him. Damian Wayne, it had to be. Her outfit was fine. "What do you have against colour, you meanie?"

"'Meanie'?" Abuse snickered.

"Shut up," Batman and Nightstar said in unison to him. It didn't have the desired effect as Abuse started laughing. The hoarse sound filled the alley and they all realised that they probably should move somewhere even less public.

* * *

'Batman' had a safe house nearby where they could relocate to. Once inside, they stood around. None of them wanted to start so Mar'i took the role.

"So... Batman? How'd that happen?" she asked Damian.

Damian glared and then sighed, pulling the cowl off his head. His hair stuck to his forehead, damp with sweat. He didn't seem to care about that.

"Father went out of town and I decided to fill in for him while he's away."

"While he was gone you decided to take the Batsuit?" Abuse questioned in surprise. His voice changed pitch towards the end and he seemed to be getting smaller. "Isn't he going to be mad?" By the end of that sentence, Mar'i was looking at a familiar tall but skinny and unimposing figure.

"Of course not," Damian responded. "I asked Grayson beforehand and Penny-One is also aware of my change in mantle. It's not permanent." His tone suggested that Damian was going to work to prove himself and maybe it would become a permanent change.

Mar'i nodded, noting that Damian didn't mention telling Bruce, and looked over at Colin.

"And... Colin Wilkes?"

Colin looked shocked while Damian smirked.

"-tt-, really Mar'i Grayson, you should know better than that," he said. "Or did your father not teach you the 'no names in the field' rule?" He paused while a thought occurred to him. "Does he even know?"

"Of course he knows!" Mar'i shouted at Damian, hair flaring up. Her dad trusted her to make the right choices!

"What? Mar'i?" Colin questioned, looking between the two. "So, you two do know each other." He had thought as much when he told Damian about the girl he helped the previous day. Damian had asked a few questions before going quiet.

"She once came to stay with me and Grayson," Damian explained in an off-handed manner. "She's Grayson's illegitimate girl-child with that alien woman."

"Wow. That's cool," Colin said. Mar'i smiled at him and pulled her mask off so he could see her eyes. "So cool. I guess you've been doing this a long time then?"

Mar'i flinched. Damian smirked.

"Dad didn't want me in danger," Mar'i responded. "But, I do know a lot."

"-tt-"

"No really! Just test me."

"Um..." Colin couldn't think of what to say.

"I'll test you," Damian said. He attacked with little warning, foot flying up to knock into Mar'i's side. She blocked it with her arms as well as doing small, quick steps to the side to minimise his impact. As she moved, she twirled into a kick of her own.

Damian jumped back to dodge. They were both smirking as they closed the distance between each other.

Mar'i tried to grab him, only for Damian to turn the move back on her and try and flip her into the ground. She floated but he kicked a heel into her back, sending her to the ground.

Mar'i fumed, hair curling like purple fire above her. She could imagine the victorious pose Damian was probably performing.

Colin blinked and rubbed his eyes, trying to process everything that had happened.

"Wow," he finally stated.

"That's right."

"Although I don't think posing as Batman above a beaten down hero is really a smart way to start your Dark Knight career," Colin commented.

Mar'i barked a laugh, as much as she could with her chest squashed against the ground. Damian jumped off her a moment later.

"-tt- We do whatever it takes to subdue our prey."

"'Prey'?" Mar'i questioned with a giggle. His reactions were kind of funny.

"Ugh!" Damian groaned and stomped around. "I just came to see Abuse, why am I dealing with you too?"

"You don't have to. The city is big enough that we don't have to work together," Mar'i pointed out. She pulled up a map on the monitor. "If we tell each other which areas we want, then we don't have to meet up or deal with each other."

"I'm Batman," Damian pointed out, "the city is mine!"

"I can keep you up to date on where we are," Colin said. Mar'i smiled at him while Damian raged in the background.

"Fine," Damian finally huffed. "You can take Amusement Mile or something."

"I want the Diamond District tonight," Mar'i countered with her arms crossed over her chest. "Amusement Mile's on the edge of the city and, unless there's something big going down, everybody avoids that place."

"Fine," Damian huffed again, throwing his hands into the air.

* * *

While the Diamond District was usually Catwoman's hangout and had a lot of small, break and enter crimes, it was quiet as Nightstar leapt across the rooftops. She performed short stakeouts around the taller buildings, looking for anything suspicious.

"Gotham is nice at night," she sighed as she looked over the buildings. Despite the hour, there were a few cars travelling down the road.

She even saw Red Hood's bike rush down the road, the hood shining in the street-lamps like a red-coloured police siren.

Near sunrise, Nightstar found her way back to her apartment. There was an email from her dad, asking how her night went. She fell asleep wondering if she should inform him that Damian was playing at being Batman.

* * *

The good thing about Saturday was that she could sleep in. Since very few people knew where she and her dad lived, there was no chance of anyone coming to visit.

"Damian, you can't just go into a girl's room!"

Mar'i woke to the sounds of conversation, not registering the words or owners until after she had thrown the knife hidden under her pillow at them.

Colin's stared at the knife embedded up to its handle in the wall.

Damian let out an undignified squeak.

Mar'i stared in disbelief.

"What. Are you doing. In my room?" she questioned. Her eyes glowed as she wondered if she was still dreaming.

"We came to visit," Colin said.

Damian ignored the question and tried to pull the knife out of the wall.

"Does your father know you throw knives in your sleep?" he grunted.

"He knows about the knife," she responded haughtily. "How did you find this place?"

"I checked school records for your address," Damian responded as if it was obvious.

Mar'i's hands lit up.

"Fine," she hissed. They had managed to find her and she had to give them that and let them visit. "But get out of MY ROOM!"

She fired, chasing them out so she could get dressed for the day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: I will be in no-internet land for the weekend and so, unable to update or respond to comments. I did manage to finish this chapter before I leave though.

 

**Chapter 3 – …**

* * *

Damian and Colin were sitting at the table when Mar'i came out. Damian had a box of Dick's favourite cereal in his hands and was eating it straight from the box.

"You don't have any milk," he explained as she stared at him.

"So you'll steal my cereal anyway?" It wasn't exactly hers and she didn't think her dad would mind but it was the principle of the thing! Damian Wayne could buy a cereal company, he didn't need to steal their boxed cereal.

"Honestly, it's more efficient to eat it like this. Pennyworth doesn't think so though."

Mar'i sighed and pulled out a bowl. From the fridge, she grabbed some orange juice. She placed the bowl in front of Damian and poured a glass of orange juice for herself.

"At least use a bowl," she said to him.

Colin cleared his throat, reminding them both he was there.

"So, Nightstar?" he questioned.

"Yeah. Got a problem?" she responded.

Colin shook his head.

"I have a problem," Damian said. "Gotham has me."

"Yeah, an immature Batman," Mar'i responded.

"Are you two going to fight all the time?" Colin questioned. "Isn't it better to work together?"

"Quiet Colin," Damian said. "You're the one who suggested a visit."

Colin frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I suggested we ask if we could visit. Not that we break in. This is not a good thing, Damian. Robin wouldn't do it."

"Good thing I'm no longer Robin then," Damian responded.

Mar'i snorted a laugh. "Not for long. Then again, how many Robins have returned to the suit after abandoning it?" she mused. "I think... all but dad. Red Hood wore it a few times to freak people out, like Red Robin who was just Robin back then and Red Robin returned to it after quitting because his girlfriend could do a better job than him."

"Brown?" Damian questioned incredulously. "She was the worst Robin-"

"She became Robin to get Red Robin to go back to being Robin," Mar'i interrupted. "And he did. She wasn't out to be the best Robin, she was trying to convince Red Robin to come back. She needed to be replaceable."

The boys were silent for a moment. Damian looked to Colin and Colin nodded. Mar'i was right.

Damian cursed.

"Besides, she makes an awesome Batgirl." Even though Batgirl thought they didn't need Nightstar. It wasn't about needing Nightstar.

"You okay?" Damian asked.

"Yep. Just tired. Two people broke into my bedroom this morning and woke me up."

"You can go to bed then, instead of listening to the case Colin has brought us," Damian goaded.

Mar'i felt excited about this. "You brought me a case?"

"Both you and Damian," Colin said, "which is why I suggested seeing you."

Mar'i nodded. Colin seemed to have something important for them. Damian frowned in worry. Colin lived in the streets of Gotham, knew them and their darkness. He wouldn't admit it out loud but Colin was a great hero. To have a case which needed Abuse, Nightstar and Batman, it wasn't going to be good.

"Around my area, a new rumour seems to be surfacing. It's saying that young women shouldn't go out onto the streets alone."

"Isn't that kind of standard around Gotham?" Mar'i questioned. She knew there were places here Dad didn't like her going.

"That's what I thought. Until one of the other kids I know disappeared. She was 18, the age they let you out into the world, and excited about living for herself. But, she vanished."

"Couldn't she have moved to a new city?" Mar'i questioned, wanting all the information and considering all possibilities.

Colin shook his head.

"I helped her move into her apartment here in Gotham. She didn't go very far and all her stuff is still there, untouched."

"So it's unlikely," Damian theorised. "What are you proposing as our next step?"

"We check out the apartment and Mar'i, um, acts as bait."

"Bait?" Damian questioned, slightly angry at the suggestion.

"I'll do it," Mar'i said, cutting Damian off. She didn't like the sound of this rumour at all. People should be allowed to move about as they wished without being scared of shadows. That's partly what Batman was about, right? "We need to stop this as soon as possible."

Damian frowned.

"Thanks. I can't ask anyone else," Colin said, "since I have no idea what we'll be facing. But, I promise I'll be watching and I'll help you-" Mar'i glared, eyes lighting up. "If you need it?" he finished weakly.

"Back-up's not a bad idea," Damian informed her. "I'll hang around the area too. Batman's sure to scare the scum away."

Mar'i and Colin both gave him flat stares.

"We're not trying to scare them away," Mar'i pointed out.

"Scare answers out of the scum of Gotham?" Damian suggested as a phrasing alternative.

"Better but still unlikely to happen," Colin pointed out with a sigh. He explained that Abuse had tried already.

* * *

Mar'i's evening consisted of meeting Colin in a casual Gothamite outfit, complete with jacket, scarves and a blond wig. She waited until Damian roared up on his motorbike before walking over.

"Hey! Nice bike," she said, putting a little Gotham lit into her voice. She had learnt the accent from her dad, who had learnt it from Jason back before she had been born.

"Thanks," Damian muttered, glancing at her and then away as she approached. Then he looked back. "Mar'i?"

Colin stared, jaw dropping a bit.

"Whoa. Uh, I couldn't tell it was you," Colin said.

"Isn't that the point of a disguise?" she responded.

"What about your eyes?" Damian questioned. Mar'i self-consciously touched her, now brown, eyes.

"A sort of hologram," she explained. "Mum gave it to me for my birthday. Apparently, it's one of many devices she received during her time with Uncle Jason and Uncle Roy. She said they were fun to play with."

"Okay, let's get started then," Colin said.

Mar'i walked the streets. She used the time to keep up with her skills at spotting trails. She lost Damian and Colin a few times, Colin more often because she took a while to adapt and learn to spot the way Abuse moved.

Nothing happened for a few hours. Mar'i sat down on some steps and just waited for a while. She walked down deserted streets and alleys.

She encountered a few muggers and ran away screaming. Muggers really didn't run fast. Or look up at fire escapes when chasing their prey.

"I'm so coming back later to teach them how to treat others," she muttered into her comm for Damian to hear.

"I assume you want this area for your patrol tonight?" Damian commented back.

"Yep."

"You know it's Abuse's territory."

"And crosses with Red Robin's and Batgirl's," Damian pointed out.

"I know. Besides, I think I can handle them."

"-tt- Call me if realise the error of that statement."

Mar'i couldn't help it, she stuck her tongue out at him.

* * *

Nightstar held true to Mar'i's declaration. She hunted down the men who had attempted to attack her and made them rethink mugging people in the streets.

The one who only attacked her because he needed money to feed his young children, she led to a shelter which offered food for the hungry. It involved taking his youngest and ordering him to follow but she got him there and inside. The people there, funded by The Wayne Foundation, fed the hungry who came.

The one who had pretended to have a gun by pointing a finger in his coat, she snarled, lifted him against the wall and suggested he find a better job because he wasn't any good as a mugger. At all. She was a glowing flame of anger in the darkness, just as terrifying as the bat; or so she hoped.

The one who was just looking to make a few bucks by beating up a young girl, she beat him back and left him tied up on the steps of the local police station with a note.

It was around then she noticed that someone was watching her. Cameras focused on her when she was in range, an indicator that someone behind a screen was monitoring her.

She smiled, bowed and gave a girly wave.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: I'm hoping to send my laptop off for repairs today. I'll be without it for about 2-3 weeks. I'm also hoping that this doesn't affect updates. I have a fairly good tablet, google drive and usbs and a computer I can borrow. However, there may be unforeseen consequences so, updates may slow.

 

**Chapter 5 – Red Robin**

* * *

Mar'i's alarm went off. It was annoying however, she had promised her dad that she would go to school, even when he wasn't around.

She dressed, ate breakfast, put on her shoes and started walking to school. The fastest route she knew involved going up a fire escape and jumping across a few rooftop terraces before climbing back down to ground level. It was faster than going around the buildings or wasting time searching for and climbing fences.

She arrived the same time as someone else.

"Colin!" she called as she stopped the tall, red-head near a tree.

Colin seemed to flinch, shooting her a surprised expression.

"Oh, hi," he said.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't think you would talk to me in school because of our… _night jobs._ "

"That's ridiculous," Mar'i said with a frown. It wasn't like anyone knew who they were.

"How do we explain knowing each other?" Colin questioned.

"Uh, the way we met?" Mar'i responded. "I was lost and you helped me out."

"But-"

"Colin, you're being more paranoid than my father. And that's a feat."

"Doesn't your dad have a reputation for being the nice one? He was Nightwing, right?"

"That's because he doesn't let himself get caught doing the not-so-nice things."

Colin thought about that for a moment before shivering.

"Didn't need to know that. Should I be worried about Damian then?"

Mar'i laughed. Damian was hardly threatening.

"I think my dad failed to teach Damian the more subtle things he does."

Colin raised an eyebrow and questioned, "should I be worried about _you_?"

Mar'i giggled.

"I'm not too good at that. Dad says I'm a terrible liar. Then again, he's well trained at picking out lies so, maybe I'm good and don't know it?"

"I really don't know. Unless you've lied since we've met?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Damian's not a good liar either," Colin pointed out. "The same night we met, I figured out who he was. It was hard not to, with the flips he was pulling off everywhere."

Mar'i's heart did a little leap in her chest and she grabbed Colin's arms.

"You have to tell me!" she squealed. She had heard the story from her dad's point-of-view however, her dad had turned up to find a bulky Abuse and blood-masked Damian standing by a hole in the ground, claiming they didn't kill anyone. She really wanted to know what happened and not just her father's deductions. Especially now that Colin mentioned he figured out Damian's identity; she really wanted to know how.

Colin hesitantly agreed and Mar'i felt her face heat up as a few people around them seemed a little too attentive. There were a couple a people laughing and she couldn't help thinking they were laughing at them. It was just too well timed.

"Uh, sorry," she muttered, pulling her hair over the side of her face. Her purple headband had been replaced with a green hairband her mother had bought her. The purple one was Nightstar's, who wore her hair down. Mar'i wore her hair up in a ponytail.

"It's alright," Colin said. He was used to the stares. "I'm often alone anyway. Ever since they made me repeat a grade."

"They made you repeat a grade? Why?" Colin raised his eyebrow again and Mar'i sighed. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?" She had a bad habit of asking people for 'stories'. It was her father's fault. Most of her interactions with him involved stories of heroes and villains as he told her happened since the last time they talked.

"I'm not sure what, but I guess I can tell you later," Colin responded.

* * *

Damian sat outside the school on his motorcycle, looking extremely bored.

"You have got to be kidding me," he grumbled when Mar'i and Colin walked out together. "Why are you two together?"

"Why are you here?" Mar'i countered, cocking a hip and smirking as she turned his question back on him.

"Sorry, but we do go to the same school," Colin said. "And Mar'i's nice."

"Of course she is," Damian muttered in a scolding tone. "She's Grayson's daughter."

"I'm going to ignore that comment," Mar'i responded. She was her own person and so much more than her father's daughter.

For one thing, she could actually fly.

"And I'm going to ignore you. I'm here to pick Colin up."

"Really?" Colin was surprised.

"Of course. This is your bike."

"Uh, not it's not."

"I owed you a bike after borrowing and crashing your other one. Here's your new one so get on already!"

"You did what?" Clearly, this was the first time Colin had heard this. "Is this why you haven't returned it? Damian, I liked that bike!"

"And I got you this one. Jason says it's a good model and I modified it for our kind of work."

Colin gave Mar'i a hesitant look.

"Go. I'll meet you two tonight," Mar'i said to them.

"Sure," Colin responded as he walked over to the bike. He immediately started insisting that, because it was 'his', he was driving. Damian tried to argue but, he had said that the bike was Colin's and Mar'i was all too happy to join Colin's side and remind Damian of that.

* * *

Nightstar was first up that night. She was going to try walking around as 'Batman Damian's bait' later and see if that changed her odds of hitting whatever disaster was causing young women to vanish.

Mar'i walked out of her family apartment and down to one of her father's safehouses in order to change. She didn't like the way the cameras had seemed to follow her and she didn't want to be waking up to any more bats or birds in her room (and she wasn't talking about the animal kind).

Nightstar took to the rooftops. She helped an old lady cross the street; the lady had been almost unable to see with the bags of food she had been carrying. Then she listened to a runaway teen, who cried about how their father was doing things they didn't like. She then helped the teen to the police station and made a point of staying with them while they told the police their story.

When she left the police station, across the surrounding rooftops, she was stopped by a mild but demanding voice.

She smiled and turned. Red Robin stood there in all his red and black glory. He was frowning, even as she greeted him with a happy, 'hi'.

"You are Nightstar, correct?" he said.

"You hear that from Batgirl?" she responded, still trying to be pleasant.

"Didn't have to. You're creating quite a stir."

Nightstar raised her eyebrows. She hadn't expected that. After all, she was just one vigilante of the many in Gotham (yet another reason to pick Gotham).

"Really?"

"Yes." Wow, Red Robin was gritting his teeth. What about her annoyed him so much?

"That's cool and all but, why are you cornering me on rooftops? I already had the 'you shouldn't be doing this' talk with Batgirl."

"Yeah. She mentioned that. She had a feeling you wouldn't listen. What I find interesting is that we can't find you."

"What do you mean?" Nightstar asked innocently.

"We're trying to figure out who you are and why you're doing this but, you seem to vanish from our radar every night."

That explained the cameras.

"Oh, sorry. My daddy always says I should never give my name to strangers," she teased. It was actually true. Her dad had coached her on how to interact with strangers so that she didn't give away any information. He was always paranoid that one of his enemies would come after her. "But you already know me. I'm Nightstar." It was a combination of her parents' hero names so it was enough to pass for a 'real name' in her book.

Red Robin did not look amused.

"-tt-, honestly Nightstar, you've not going to last in Gotham, if you keep bugging the local flora and fauna."

" _Batman_ ," Red Robin hissed, not happy to see him.

"Batman," Nightstar frowned. "You know, I can take care of myself."

"And while you do that, there's a building on fire with people trapped inside." Batman pointed a gloved finger a few streets over where they could see smoke wisping to join with the night sky's clouds.

"I can help with that," Nightstar said, a rush of power going through her. She quickly moved towards the fire, eager to help.

She could still hear Batman and Red Robin talking in the distance behind her.

"A grapple? Now where did she get that?" It was accusatory in tone.

"Don't look at me," Batman growled back at Red Robin. "Her equipment is out-of-date and I wouldn't even let you use it."

Nightstar was slightly offended as her equipment worked fine! It might have looked old, because it was one her dad's old ones, but her dad taught her the basics of its upkeep and modifying it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Criminals Part 1**

* * *

Damian stood in Batman regalia, cowl pulled down, before a digitally projected map.

"Okay, here's where all the missing girls supposedly lived," he explained, pointing at the array of dots. Each dot had a line projecting from it, connecting it up with all the information they could obtain about each missing girl.

The dots were in a single district to the northern part of the city. They seemed to be around 2 to 3 streets away from each other.

"Do you think the culprit knows where these girls live?" Mar'i mused. She had been using an abandoned building towards the edge of their culprit's hunting area to change. There was a chance that maybe the culprit saw her and assumed she lived there. But, there was also a chance it was too far and she needed to move closer.

"Probably. We need to assume everything at this point, which is why I had Abuse look into this information."

"Hopefully I didn't chase him off," Colin sighed, downcast by their lack of success. However, he had been putting a lot of work into this, into making the streets a safer place and helping to find the woman he knew.

It had to be hard, especially since they didn't know whether or not she was alive. Mar'i placed what she hoped was a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"We're going to get this guy," she promised.

Damian gave them a moment before he got their attention again.

"The best thing to do right now is man the streets. Colin, you know best what would seem out of place, so I want you walking around these streets." Damian whirled a finger around the streets where the most dots were clustered.

Colin nodded in agreement although he looked nervous about it.

"Mar'i, you'll be walking a route around these streets." Damian traced the streets outside Colin's, the streets with only a few or no victims. "Don't go out of your way to avoid Colin's streets but keep in mind that we're trying to cover as much ground as possible." Mar'i suspected that he also assumed the criminal was moving into those areas. "I'll intersect my route in the streets here, here and here." He pointed to streets at the edge of Mar'i's and Colin's areas. Damian thought carefully about his next few words. "I'll be aiming to be seen."

Mar'i instantly understood. He was hoping to herd the criminal towards Colin and Mar'i. Plus, he was probably also hoping to remind Gotham of the Batman and get them used to 'the Batman's new look'.

"Comms will be on at all times," Damian added placing some earpieces on the table in front of them. Mar'i took hers and placed it in her ear. "They're the new ones, synced to each other and almost invisible. Red Robin's little babies."

"Did you steal them?" Mar'i joked with a smirk.

Damian gave her his best offended look. The acting lessons he took as a kid mostly paid off. "I offered to test them."

Mar'i snickered and Colin even cracked a smile.

* * *

It was not going well. Mar'i had been walking around the streets for ages, trying to look like a good target. Nothing was happening. Normally, that would be a good thing but, when you have a person running around and taking girls who knows where then it was a problem. Nothing happening meant another target. It meant a missed chance. It meant more fear on the streets.

Mar'i hated the thought. Gotham was a city which didn't need to sleep. But it certainly seemed to be sleeping now.

"Excuse me." Mar'i jumped at the hand on her shoulder. She turned to see a man in a large, brown, fuzzy coat and bucket hat.

"Can I help you?" she questioned. Silently, she hoped this was it. That they would finally end this.

She could almost hear Abuse stop to listen with bated breath.

"Perhaps."

Mar'i winced as he twisted her arm. She was more durable than a normal human but, it still hurt.

"Hey!" a woman's voice cried out. The man jumped and bolted into the darkness.

On the other end of the comm, Abuse heaved a disappointed sigh.

"Are you okay?" she asked Mar'i, grabbing her arm and checking her face.

"I'm fine," Mar'i responded with a thank you. She looked this woman over. There was a small age gap between them by her best estimate. This woman was barely older than the ones disappearing, at Mar'i's best guess. Her face was round and open, her long hair pulled up into a messy bun. Her clothes were cheap, as were most of the clothes of those who lived in this area.

Something didn't feel quite right. Mar'i didn't think this woman was helping out of the goodness of her own heart.

"I can walk you home, if you like?"

"That sounds great," Mar'i responded with a relieved smile. "But I only live a few streets away."

"A little protection is never a bad thing," the woman insisted.

"Of course. Um, feel free to come with then," Mar'i responded. She heard Batman's annoyed huff and Abuse's wondering about whether he could still catch the man who bolted. Mar'i walked with the woman down the streets towards an abandoned building they were using as her cover's 'home'.

They talked about random things.

"I like your hair colour. Is that a natural brown? What does it look like out of the bun?" Mar'i asked. The woman patiently answered all her questions before making a suggestion that they visit someone she knew nearby.

The building Mar'i was guided to looked new enough, being rebuilt after some kind of disaster. New construction, probably funded secretly by Wayne Enterprises.

Mar'i agreed, casually mentioning how she didn't think Gotham had buildings which looked new.

"Oh, you're not from around here?" the woman questioned.

"I moved here a few weeks ago," Mar'i responded. Was it just her imagination or did the woman's smile grow

Have faith, she reminded herself. This woman could just be nice. It could just be her paranoia making her suspicious of foul play; she really had her father to thank for that one.

The woman opened a door.

"Come in, make yourself comfortable," she said. Mar'i nodded and let herself in.

The door clicked shut behind the woman, almost like a lock sliding into place. The room smelt of something sweet and metallic. It was mostly unadorned, just the bare basics in plain colours.

Mar'i let out a cry as a jolt went through her system and caused her to black out.

* * *

Thoughts came back fuzzy. Her body ached and twitched out of control as she tried to move it. Her eyes opened a crack and a hand slammed down over them.

She grabbed at it, pulling and scratching furiously until her mind registered Damian talking to her.

"Trust me, you won't like what you see."

"How bad is it?" she questioned. She needed to take deep breaths in order to not give into the panic she was feeling, her heart hammering away in her chest. The metallic smell was stronger and her hands touched something sticky as they dropped from Batman's glove to the ground.

"Bad." That was Abuse. His voice weak. It was strange to hear the adult, gravelly tone sound more like Colin than Abuse.

"The woman?"

"Don't have a name for her yet," Damian responded. "I suppose the police will find one when they get here. We should leave."

Mar'i agreed. She was a little tired of seeing nothing but darkness. Chains rattled and Abuse muttered a short prayer. It was creeping her out a little bit to have the two acting out of sorts.

"I'm going to blindfold you," Damian commented. Mar'i heard something fabric-like being pulled out.

"You just happen to have a blindfold on you?" she said in an amused tone. If their keeping her in the dark, figuratively and literally, was the only reason she could make jokes to cheer them up, she would take it.

"Putting it on now," Damian said to her in a quiet voice. "Close your eyes."

"I don't really appreciate being kept out of this by the way," she informed them. She wondered if her imagination was cooking up any images even close to what was beyond the darkness.

"Then why are you letting me do it?" Damian questioned.

Mar'i didn't think her reason; because you seem to need it, would make him feel better. There was a lack of sounds of life from anyone besides her, Damian and Colin and so she assumed the missing girls were dead.

"Let's go," she said, changing the subject. "The police are coming, remember?"

"-tt- Of course. I said it first," Damian grumbled, leading her out of the room. Mar'i had to admit, his dark Batman-trench coat was silent compared to the other Batman's cape.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: It might be a little too late, but just a warning for descriptions of a serial killer's actions. I haven't gone too in-depth but at the same time, I lack the ability to tell when I've gone 'too in-depth'.

 

 

**Chapter 7 - Criminals Part 2**

* * *

The group gathered at one of Abuse's safehouses. It was a place near the orphanage and one Colin had picked out. The building was run down and abandoned but he kept a lock on the door and his gear stashed away. It lacked the gadgetry and tech of safe houses owned by those affiliated with Batman however, it served its purpose as a place where Colin could mend his wounds and a place where Damian could meet up with him.

Damian had given Mar'i the address during the first night she played 'bait' for them. She didn't use it until what she assumed was the final night of this 'bait' mission.

Damian, as Batman, had told her that he needed to stay with Colin. She understood. His friend needed him.

Nightstar didn't go out that night. Mar'i waited in the safe house, heating and reheating hot water to make tea with when the boys arrived.

Colin returned first. He was still in his bulky and large Abuse form. Despite towering over Mar'i, his face was drawn and his muscles tense. Mar'i pulled up a chair for him and poured the tea.

They sat in silence.

Batman hopped through the window when he arrived. He was scowling and paced through the room as he started talking.

"The police arrested her and have started shipping evidence back to the precinct. They seem disgusted with this case so I doubt she'll fall through the cracks."

"Do you have a plan if she does?" Mar'i asked.

Damian sighed and pulled off the cowl.

"I have a few plans if that happens. Can I count on your help?"

"Of course!" Mar'i didn't mention that she had a few plans as well. One would be leaking the story to the press. Gotham's press could be vicious at times.

Abuse's form compressed on itself until he was back to being Colin.

"Thanks," he muttered in a quiet tone.

Damian scowled but didn't say anything. It was early morning when all three left.

* * *

While she had let them keep her in the dark for the most part, Mar'i wasn't content to stay like that. It wasn't hard for someone trained by Dick Grayson to get their hands on police reports, which was what Nightstar did the next night.  
It wasn't pretty. No wonder Damian had been so pale afterwards.  
The criminal had confessed to everything when questioned. She went on record saying that she did it to see what it was like. The first practically turned up on her doorstep, begging to be taken.  
That didn't explain why the criminal already had chains and handcuffs ready to go.  
The first one was just a simple grab and kill; dismemberment didn't come until later, when the criminal needed to hide and 'preserve' the body. The second, not so much. The criminal started planning. Started torturing to see reactions.

There were notes on her confiscated computer.

_'She was such a wonderful conversationalist. I just had to see-'_

_'I think a new woman has caught my eye.'_

_'I'll have to hire a new man. My current one is asking too many questions. Apparently, getting paid to give some ladies enough of a scare that they'll let me bring them home isn't enough.'_

The notes relating to Mar'i's disguise were the most chilling. They related to the disguise she had worn twice. The criminal had seen her twice, taken notes and then gone to talk to her.

_'This woman. I've been seeing her around. She's got the most lovely eyes. Almost… unearthly.'_

Unearthly.

A chill went down her back when she read that. She had been wearing the contacts but still... her eyes were like her mother's and most certainly 'unearthly'.

There were pictures of the captured women. No longer did Mar'i have to imagine chains in the room, she now knew what they looked like. And who they had held.

The anguished faces of those the criminal didn't kill straight away haunted her as she closed her eyes to rest for a moment. She felt for everyone involved. How did someone end up like this criminal? Her dad would say it was because they lacked a 'safety net'. Her mum would say sadly that some people became like that.

Mar'i didn't know what to think. There were other people handling it, like the Gotham Police, but still, she felt responsible because people died.

The worst part was there were more victims than they realised. Eight women had been killed. Mar'i flipped past the pictures of officers taking body parts out of the freezer. She didn't need to see the hand in a clear bag being held up. Didn't need to see the name and date labeled on it. This criminal seemed meticulous in the most odd of ways.

* * *

Mar'i took a deep breath of the fresh night air. She touched the mask on her face to remind herself that she was Nightstar. It was a small thing but it still made her smile. Even on a night like this. It represented her family, her goals and all she had overcome.

She glanced up and spotted a black shadow vanish into the darkness. If what was who she thought, he probably wasn't very happy.

Nightstar leapt from the roof of the police building and used her jump line to send her flying. The lights of the city flew past as she went through her patrol areas, breaking up small fights, arresting small-time criminals and talking with people who weren't scared of a teenager in a mask.

* * *

Before patrol ended, Nightstar made a point of going to see Abuse. He was standing in an alleyway and looking like a suspicious person in his trench coat and hat.

What was with these boys and their coats?

Nightstar landed across the street and walked over, greeting him with cheer.

"Hey," he grunted back.

"How are you doing?" she asked, just to be polite. She didn't think he would be doing so well after finding his friend dead.

Cut up and stored in a freezer like a frozen chicken-

Abuse gave a noncommittal grunt and shrug.

"At least Ro- I mean, Batman was impressed with you."

Nightstar was skeptical.

"He called me a 'talkative idiot'." Back in the safehouse, Damian had insisted on going over where everyone was and what had happened during those last few hours. Even if no one saw it, he wanted reports done up, just in case.

Damian had things to say about how she had talked to the criminal and let herself be taken in by them.

"He did. But, I think he was worried. You were kidnapped by someone we hadn't seen. It was only the description of her you slipped us and the comment on the 'new building' that allowed us to find you in time."

"It's something dad taught me," Nightstar explained. Along with a whole list of things to do if kidnapped, covering almost every scenario. He told her to talk or ramble at them. It allowed her to get to know them or gauge their personality. The ones who hated talking or realised that she was trying to make them empathise with her, wouldn't kill her right away. They were more likely to give her a warning first. Her dad also talked her through the list of exceptions and people who she should never find herself alone with.

"It probably saved your life," Abuse pointed out.

Nightstar was grateful but she wasn't going to tell her dad that.

If she had her way, her dad would never find out about this case.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - Red Hood**

* * *

School felt like a necessary annoyance. Not that Mar'i didn't make friends, people seemed to like her. But, those friends only saw Mar'i Grayson. They couldn't know about Nightstar.

"Hey, Mar'i!" a couple of girls called as the final bell went for the day. "We're going to the shops, want to come?"

Mar'i agreed after a few moments thought. It wasn't like she was expected anywhere else and it was the shops, not a house or something.

"So, what's your story?" Tegan, one of the girls, asked.

"Yeah, where'd you come from and why come to Gotham of all places?" Nikki added.

"Dad moved us here for work," Mar'i responded politely.

"Don't mind these two," Ellie commented, slapping Nikki in the chest. "So rude."

"Hey, we're just curious!" Tegan countered. "After all, Mar'i looks like a model and people like that don't come to Gotham."

"My mum used to be a model," Mar'i informed them. She didn't give names or say that she looked a lot like her mother. It was just enough information to stop their fighting and change the subject. "So, how are we taking the bus?"

"Nah, Nikki's boy is driving us," Tegan informed her.

Mar'i paused. She didn't like the idea of getting into a car with an unknown driver.

"Whoa. No one mentioned any boys."

"He's not coming with us, silly!" Tegan pointed out.

"Besides, you shouldn't have any problems with boys," Nikki commented. "Don't you hang around that older boy?"

"Colin? He helped me out. He's nice," Mar'i pointed out.

"Yeah, so? My beau is nice."

"Come on, Niks, you totally know the Batman's going to get him," Ellie snorted.

"What?" Mar'i questioned.

"Right, you're from out of town," Ellie said, misunderstanding Mar'i's confusion. "Batman's like a, well, nobody really knows what he is. He just appeared one day and started protecting Gotham; or so some people claim. Others reckon he came to punish criminals. Like Nikki's beau."

"What did he do?" Mar'i questioned.

"He's just a street racer!" Nikki whined, throwing her hands in the air. "It's not like he killed anybody!"

Mar'i was certainly not going to get in a car with these people. Nikki's boyfriend might be able to drive safely outside of races but she had a feeling her dad would kill her, ironically enough as her dad had been in a few car races and chases himself. It wasn't 'fair' and her dad knew it. He just said that they were difficult people in different circumstances. For example, his father wasn't around to stop him from doing dangerous things.

At least he admitted that he does dangerous things.

"Hey, Mar'i," Tegan said, "who's that waving at you?"

Mar'i looked where she was pointing. Across the street was a familiar figure in sunglasses and a suit. She felt her heart stop because it was rare to see her dad in a suit and her mind immediately started tallying up all the things she did while he was gone which he would disapprove of.

"That's my dad," she said, bidding them goodbye and crossing to meet him. "Hey, dad. You're back."

"And in one piece," Dick responded with a smile and a flourish. Mar'i gave him a hard stare. "I mean it. Bruce was the one who got hurt this time. Alfred was saying something about him breaking his ankle when I left. Damian will probably continue being Batman until it heals."

Mar'i recalled that her dad had known about Damian's plan.

"So, you really think Damian should be Batman?" she questioned as they got into the car Dick had borrowed.

"You tell me," he responded. "You were the one here while he was Batman. Anyway, there's nothing Damian takes more seriously than Batman."

Mar'i had to nod in agreement as she thought of Damian's determination to make Gotham's streets safe.

* * *

Nightstar leapt across the space between two rooftops and waited. This was the position.

"Hello?" she called out, looking around. There was nothing hiding in the shadows and the street below was close to silent.

It was still and dark, the kind of night which seemed peaceful.

Then there was a flash of red at the side of the roof, suggesting that Nightstar's peaceful night was about to end.

"Did you really need to help that drunk get home?" Red Hood questioned, hoisting himself over the edge of the roof. He pulled himself into full standing height, brushing imaginary dirt off his jacket.

"I just splashed water in his face and followed him so he didn't get hurt," she responded with a shrug. It wasn't like the drunk had taken all her attention. She had managed to break up a fight and stop a car thief at the same time.

She was good at this, as much as her father didn't want to admit it.

"Mmm, he probably would have made it home in the morning," Red Hood pointed out. He tilted his body so Nightstar's eyes were drawn to his guns.

Too bad for him, she already knew that he didn't shoot to kill. He certainly wouldn't kill a girl who he believed he could still persuade.

"He would have been cold and hungry from sleeping in the streets. That's if he survived the night." Gotham could be a harsh place.

Red Hood titled his head in thought.

"You know, you've been making some people very annoyed."

"Really?" Nightstar mused.

"Really. Thought I might inform you that you haven't been dealing with the original Batman. And he's back."

Nightstar smiled.

"Who's back?" She wanted to test how easy it was to make Red Hood lose his temper.

"The original Batman," Red Hood scoffed. "And if you've not smart enough to figure any of that out, then you should probably quit."

And there it was. The 'q' word.

"You bats really like telling people to quit," she scoffed right back, pointing right at the red bat emblem on his chest.

He shrugged. "We don't want to see anyone get hurt. That includes people stupid enough to believe that this is all fun and games. People die."

"Like you?" She knew the story of the second Robin's death. Not just his but any death which occurred in the hero community.

Her father wanted her to understand the danger of this work. All it really did was make her more determined to be out here, helping.

Red Hood seemed to snap out of whatever shock had overcome him.

"You think you can survive? Prove it," he said.

Nightstar's reflexes kicked in and she ducked as he quickly covered the distance between them and sweeped a kick over where her head had been moments before.

She twirled a step around him and wrapped her arms around his left arm. He struggled but couldn't break her hold.

"So, Hood, my turn. Who sent you?" she questioned.

"What are you talking about?" he growled back. She let him go and watched as he staggered forward from the force of his struggles.

"You wouldn't bother with me unless someone asked you to," she explained, stepping out of the way of his punches. She wouldn't be able to keep it up for long but she didn't need long.

"Maybe you are smart," he commented. She felt he was smirking under the hood.

A moment later, there was a stinging pain in her side as a kick made contact. She rolled with the impact and out of the way of Red Hood's grab for her.

It left her crouched on the ground and in the perfect position to sweep him with a low kick.

Red Hood flipped over it, putting distance between them.

They sized each other up.

"Should I start guessing?" Nightstar questioned with a smirk. "It was probably Red Robin."

She didn't wait for confirmation, she could get that from Damian or her dad. Nightstar bolted for the closest ledge and jumped off in a swan dive. There were a couple of bars on a window about three floors down she knew she could grab.

Her hands gripped them and she swung herself across and around the building, landing on the fire escape around the corner.

She had planned this. The reason she picked this building to confront her not-so-mysterious follow was because it possessed the setup to allow her to make a sharp turn almost mid-air.

Without relying on her flight.

"I admit, that was kind of cool," her dad muttered from the shadows as Nightstar hit the ground.

"Thank you, thank you," she said with a couple of bows. He laughed and gave her a clap.

"Of course, I didn't sign you up for gymnastics so you could go pole dancing on barred windows," he added with a slight tone of disapproval.

Nightstar raised a masked eyebrow.

"Really? That's what you choose to criticise? That move was a work of amazement and you know it. If anything, you should scold me for making Red Hood mad."

"That one's going to come back to bite you as it is," he responded with a smirk. "And I'm going to say 'I told you so'."

"Thanks dad, you're a real hero."


	9. Chapter 9 - Oracle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: In case you didn't know, I had to send my laptop away for some repairs (which fell through because they didn't have the part). The laptop itself is fine, it's just a part isn't working. I just got it back after three weeks, so updates should go back to normal (something every 2-3 days). If you didn't notice the slow-down of updates while I was without my laptop, then carry on; nothing to see here.

 

**Chapter 9 - Oracle**

* * *

Mar'i was standing in the lounge of their apartment, feeling oddly exposed. Her father stood before her, examining the suit for any signs of wear and tear.

"Doesn't look like you got into much trouble while I was gone," he commented.

Mar'i grinned at the favourable suggestion.

"So then, why has Oracle asked the family to track down Nightstar?"

"I have no idea," Mar'i responded honestly. Was there something she did? Or was the family that desperate to stop the 'untrained vigilante'. "Batgirl did approach me about quitting. Maybe she went to the higher power?"

Her dad was silent for a few moments. Mar'i's heart hammered as she ran through all the unfavourable options and whether her father believed her.

"I think I told you too much," he sighed, shaking his head. "You're using it all against them."

"Am I still allowed to go out?" Mar'i asked. Oracle was not Batman. If she wanted to know something, she did. Plus, if Red Robin was working with her like Mar'i suspected, then she didn't think she could hide who she was for long.

Her father made the comments she had already thought about. It was probably only a matter of time. However, "I've gone to a lot of effort to keep you safe and make it difficult for anyone to find you. I know you decided this but, I've always left you an out. Nightstar could vanish if you wanted and there would be no repercussions."

Mar'i didn't get it. She fought hard for this chance and there was no way she would just stop. And what could happen if she decided to stop being Nightstar anyway?

Dick thought about it for a while longer. Mar'i was starting to get impatient. She couldn't leave yet since her dad had said he wanted to talk to her. She had a feeling he hadn't said what he wanted yet.

"Dad, is there a point to this?" she finally asked in an impatient huff.

"Would you like to meet Oracle?"

That... was not what she expected. Not even close. She was certain she almost had a heart attack.

"Let me just check," she commented. "Are you asking if I want to actually meet someone in your Batman family?" Dick nodded. "Are you serious? Of course I'd like to meet her! And Aunt Barbara-"

"'Aunt'?" Dick interrupted.

"I've always wanted an aunt. Besides 'step-mother Barbara' is a mouthful."

"'Step-mother'?" Dick chocked amusingly. "We're not married!"

Mar'i waved off his concerns. Her dad and Aunt Barbara were close. Really close. Had been closer. Even though their romantically close relationship had fallen apart, they were still close.

"You have to agree, she's cool."

"I don't _'have to'_ agree. I just get the feeling she'll find out if I don't," Dick commented thoughtfully. "Anyway, you want to meet her so I'll take you to her. She's only to know that you're Nightstar, okay?"

Mar'i deflated a little. She wouldn't get to tell Aunt Barbara that she was Dick's daughter and learn more about what her dad had been like as Robin? Because she doubted that Barbara would tell her about Dick as Robin if Nightstar was an unknown.

"You're doing this just to torture me, aren't you?" she grumbled out of ear-shot.

* * *

Barbara Gordon, Oracle, was not a woman to be taken lightly. She was a child of Gotham, forged through hardships, tragedies and determination. She loved the challenges she faced and the bigger the challenge, the better.

She also fiercely loved the people of Gotham.

Nightstar was reminded that Oracle ran her own team when she followed her dad onto the rooftop room where Oracle made base. It had low lighting, except for the numerous monitors displaying information and security footage.

Oracle stood before a holographic screen, musing on something.

"Looking for someone?" Dick commented cheerfully.

Oracle didn't even turn around as she responded, "I was wondering when you'd show your face. I know you got back a while ago. Good job resisting the urge to throw B off a cliff during that last mission."

"I was tempted."

"Would have been nice to know what Robin had planned while you were gone. Don't you dare try to tell me you didn't know about that."

"Did he do a good job?"

Oracle was silent, musing on what to tell him.

"Of course he did!" Nightstar volunteered her answer. Oracle turned to look at her, surprised to see that she and Dick weren't alone. Nightstar wasn't surprised, she was slightly hovering, to keep from being sensed by footsteps or pressure plates in the floor. She wasn't sure whether said pressure plates existed but, she wasn't going to risk it. This was her chance to impress the Oracle.

"You're Nightstar," Oracle commented before shooting a glare at Dick.

"Surprise?" he suggested with a grin and a shrug. Nightstar waved.

"Indeed," Oracle dryly commented. She then turned to Nightstar, her face covered by scattered coloured pixels, an effected created by the identity-hiding holo-mask developed by Batman and his allies.

"I heard you were looking for me," Nightstar said.

"You seem to know what you're doing and you have equipment that no one new to this occupation would think of having. You're obviously trained and we can't find out who you are under that mask."

Nightstar had the feeling they were drawing all the wrong conclusions from that information.

"There's someone helping you behind the scenes. And I don't think they mean well."

"What?" Nightstar and Dick questioned in surprised shock. Nightstar took advice and equipment from her dad, she would be stupid not to, but 'doesn't mean well'? She meant well! She meant to help!

"You took down four men without a single injury. For some reason, Robin seemed content to leave you to your own devises while he played Batman. However, I don't think the real Batman will be forgiving of your meddling."

Nightstar was frowning, angry at the suggestion that all she was doing was 'meddling'. How rude! She did the same job any of them did.

"He'll just have to deal then!" she shouted, turning of her heel and walking out. She followed the same path her dad showed her when they came in, leaving without any trouble.

* * *

Nightstar sat on a tall building, her knees tucked to her chest and looking out over the lights of the city. She wondered if she was really just meddling.

"What makes what I do any different?" she wondered out loud. She looked at her hands and summoned a starbolt. Her hand sparkled with the purple energy and she wondered if this was why the Batman family didn't seem to like her in Gotham. Maybe they could sense she part alien. "That's discrimination," she sighed, letting the warm energy dissipate.

She returned to looking over the city. It was really pretty. Lights sparkled everywhere. Every light was a person or a family.

Nightstar jolted out of her daze as her comm unit activated.

"Nightstar! I order you to be here."

She had half a mind to ignore Damian's forceful request. But, she couldn't bring herself to do that. It had to be important for Damian to even use the comm to call her.

She tapped the comm in her ear, activating the microphone.

"I don't know where 'here' is," she informed him.

"Here is where Mr. Freeze is freezing the city!" Damian responded as if it was obvious.

Nightstar looked around but couldn't see anything.

"Streets!" she barked. "I need street names!"

Damian rattled them off and Nightstar was on her way.


	10. Chapter 10

__**Chapter 10**

* * *

As Nightstar got closer to the streets where Damian said Mr. Freeze was, she noticed the air seemed crisper. She couldn't feel the cold the way full-Earthlings did as her Tamaranean heritage meant her body acted as a heat source but she could still sense the drastic change.

The air was crisper, the sky was darker and there even were snowflakes visible in the distance.

And people said Gotham didn't have any magic to it. To Nightstar, this seemed like magic. What was the saying? _Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic._

"Nightstar!" Robin called, signalling to her. She dropped down beside him and an oddly human-shaped pile of ice.

A flash of red was visible underneath the shine of the frozen water.

"Is that…?"

"Drake went and got himself frozen," Robin explained. He sounded annoyed. "You can free him, right?"

"Possibly," she responded, holding her hands up to the ice. She channelled just enough heat to get the ice to melt but not enough to cause her hands to light up. She didn't need easily-recognisable starbolts right now. "Why are you wearing the Robin suit?"

"-tt-. Father thought I didn't make a good Batman and ordered me to wear this or be grounded."

"That sucks," she responded. Robin nodded in sagely agreement. "For what it's worth, I thought you made a good Batman."

"Your opinion doesn't change anything," Robin spat in annoyance. Nightstar ignored the flash of anger and reminded herself that this was just what he was like. Besides, he had something taken from him. She'd probably run away if her dad took Nightstar away from her.

"J-Jumping around on rooftops and calling yourself Batman doesn't make you Batman." It was at that statement that Nightstar realised she made a mistake in thawing Red Robin from the chest and head first.

"No, caring about people does that. And Robin does care," she countered with a glare she hoped silently ordered him to shut up.

Red Robin stared up at her in disbelief. Nightstar was just glad he didn't make a comment. Maybe he knew, on some level, that she was right.

"Are you melting the ice with your bare hands?" Red Robin asked flatly.

Nightstar's heart stopped. Her mind stopped. She looked down at her hands and then back to Red Robin's mask and then back to her hands.

She pursed her lips together and silently kept melting the ice.

* * *

Once he was free, Red Robin didn't have time to question her. Mr. Freeze was generating chaos in the city.

Nightstar didn't like the look he shot her as he leapt into action. It was… negative.

"Father's going to know about your powers," Robin pointed out in a subdued tone. "I apologise for my part in that."

Nightstar pushed it to the side with an, 'it's okay'. She decided to ignore it and let happen, happen. It wasn't like she could change it now and, even if she could go back to when she arrived, she would still choose to help Red Robin.

She chose now to help all the other frozen people around them. Most seemed just annoyed at the amount of time lost being frozen in the street. Some gave her a quick grunted 'thanks' before going on their way.

It was easier to smile as she worked. Robin stayed nearby, fighting or scaring off anyone who decided to make a big deal of Nightstar's powers.

When it was all over, Red Robin and Batman had taken down Mr. Freeze while Robin and Nightstar had worked on freeing civilians.

"You'd think we'd have a heat ray or something for when this happens," Dick commented as he appeared with a grin and a light-hearted comment.

Batman huffed before moving to stand before Nightstar. She felt three inches tall, even though they were around the same height. The black of his armour, the black of his cowl and the black of his cape all blended together to create a rather imposing figure.

"Hello, Batman," she said politely.

"Why are you here?" he questioned with a growl. Nightstar didn't like it, it felt too much like an accusation but she also knew it was the way he talked. Instead, she tried to recall the growl her father had back when he was Batman. It had been amusing when he slipped into it during their calls.

"I called her," Robin quickly said in a defending tone. It was nice and she smiled at him. She even caught her dad smiling at him.

"-tt-" Robin made a motion which meant he was rolling his eyes underneath his mask.

"I would like to know what you are," Batman said, while the words were harsh, his voice was soft. Almost kind. Nightstar saw that he was able to use tact.

"Batman?" Dick questioned in confusion. Robin mouthed an apology at him.

"I used my powers to free people from the ice," Nightstar said, directing her description to Batman even though it was for her dad's benefit. "Got a problem with that?" She flicked a strand of her hair away from her face as she spoke, trying to look intimidating.

"You have powers. Does that include transforming?"

"No," she responded instantly. What was he talking about?

"What are you talking about, father?" Robin asked.

"While we were gone, a serial killer was captured by police. She had kidnapped and murdered countless women."

Batman glanced over at Robin and Nightstar wondered what they were silently communicating. It had to be something as Robin's posture straightened like a solider. She had learnt quickly that was his reaction to being challenged or scolded.

"What does this have to do with Nightstar?" Dick questioned.

"One of the women seen with the killer is still missing." Batman motioned to Red Robin who brought up an image using the screen built into his glove. "She shares a facial structure with Nightstar."

"If I could transform, wouldn't that be the first thing I changed?" Nightstar asked the first question which came to her mind.

"Is this you?" Batman asked, showing her the picture and ignoring her comment.

Nightstar certain recognised the disguise in the picture. It looked like it had been taken by one of the CV cameras along the street she had walked down with the killer. Being in disguise, she hadn't thought about avoiding the cameras. It seemed the killer had become bold enough to not worry about them either.

Red Robin or Oracle had been invested enough to trace the killer's location a few hours before their arrest. That was not good.

"Did you say something about a killer?" Dick questioned. Nightstar knew that this was not good at all.

"A serial murder," Batman clarified.

"She liked taking women and doing rather... horrific things to them," Red Robin commented.

"And this picture?" Dick questioned, pointing at Nightstar. Because she was watching his reactions, she noticed the momentary jump of his gaze to her and back.

He knew it was her. This was not going to end well.

"The last victim we know of. Unfortunately, she vanished before the arrest and hadn't been found," Red Robin said.

"She vanished?"

"Well, she wasn't there when the police turned up. The killer was unconscious."

Dick gave a short sigh of relief.

"I helped take her down," Nightstar admitted. As long as she didn't say anything about bait. "And I'm not here to be questioned. Everything you need to know is in the police report." She prayed her father didn't check the police report.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 12 - Dad ~~is an idiot~~**

* * *

Mar'i had a sinking feeling. Dad hadn't returned after patrol. The sun rose and it almost came time for her to go to school. She dressed in her uniform and got her school bag ready.

She couldn't bring herself to leave. Not until the very last minute. She wanted to be here when her dad came home. So, she waited.

Dick walked in through the front door. He didn't look happy. Or sad. Just tired.

"Good morning!" Mar'i greeted as cheerfully as she could, giving him a smile.

"Morning," he muttered back. Then he sat down across from her. "We need to talk."

Mar'i's heart plummeted. Everyone, even teenagers, knew those words were not a good sign.

Dick folded his hands on the table before him. A very bad sign.

"While Bruce and I were out of Gotham, the actions of a serial killer came to light. This killer had it in for women. So, the new Batman had an idea. He happened to know a woman who he believed could handle herself so he enlisted her help. Am I right?"

Mar'i nodded but didn't say anything. She didn't want to accidentally reveal anything, she didn't know what her dad knew.

"Mar'i, I heard the recordings. I made Damian hand over the reports. The secret reports."

It was true. Dick pulled out the reports and even played a part of the recording for her. Hearing her own voice giving hints over the comm, Mar'i realised she was lucky Damian and Colin had been able to understand them.

Her dad's eyebrows knitted as he listened.

"We weren't trying to hide anything. Damian insisted it all be recorded but, as the police reported that they're the ones who did all the work, we believed that these records wouldn't be needed for anything." She had a sudden thought. "Did Batman; uh, Grandpa Batman, not Damian, ask for any reports from when he was gone?"

"Not that I know of," Dick said, biting his lip in a way which told Mar'i that her dad didn't approve of Bruce's actions.

She guessed it made sense. Dick was looking into everything she did while he was gone. He probably expected Bruce to do the same, but he wasn't.

"But, that's a problem for later," Dick commented. "What I want to know is what you thought you were doing?"

Mar'i quickly rambled out how Colin's friend had gone missing and how they needed her help and it was important to catch the person who was taking women.

"Gotham should be a safe place," she finished, crossing her arms and frowning at her dad.

Dick twitched and stood up.

"That's not the point!" he shouted. "This was a dangerous person and you ended up walking into her hands! What if Damain hadn't been able to find you time?"

Mar'i was silent. She had thought the same thing.

"I should have been ready for her to knock me out," she said in an apologetic tone. "It won't happen again."

He wasn't done.

"What if she had taken you somewhere else after knocking you out?" he questioned. "Damian and Colin wouldn't have been able to save you." The low tone of his voice was somehow more chilling than the shouting. "What if she made it quick? You would have bleed out before they found you. You know you were there, unconscious, for about ten minutes before they could get there. More than enough time-"

"And how many times have you been knocked unconscious?" Mar'i demanded to know. She knew the number was a lot higher than one. "How many times have you been unable to defend yourself while in the hands of murderers and crazies?"

"I have been doing this for a long time!" he reminded her loudly.

"You didn't answer my question!" Mar'i shouted back.

"I am not the one who got captured! Who shouldn't even be on the streets-"

Mar'i felt hot tears prick against the edges of her eyes.

"Why don't you just say it? You want me to quit! Forget about it! I'm NIGHTSTAR and I'm STAYING NIGHTSTAR!"

"Don't you _DARE_ put words in my mouth! That's NOT-"

"I HATE YOU!" Mar'i shouted back before running away and jumping out the window. Her dad was a **liar**!

* * *

Mar'i fought for the chance to be Nightstar. Her father insisted on it.

_"I never wanted to be in this position,"_ he had said days after relenting and letting Mar'i take this dangerous path to vigilantism. _"But, if you're going to do this, then I'm going to make sure you know how to survive."_

He did something surprising. They went on a training trip. Nightstar met Deathstroke.

To Deathstroke, she was just a teenager Dick had decided to train. A teenager Dick wanted to survive.

Her dad asked Deathstroke to help train her. He was there for the whole thing but, even then, the training had been brutal.

Mar'i had often wondered during those days whether her dad had been trying to force her to give up.

* * *

Mar'i didn't stop until she had burned off all her anger, just leaving a hollow feeling in her chest. Tears had leaked down her face and she limply wiped them away, sniffling. She was sixteen. There were less than two years at school left for her. She was almost an adult.

She was supposed to be a hero.

She felt like a useless child. Letting out a frustrated groan, she decided to soar above the clouds for a while. She ducked behind a building and took her school bag off. It was better to carry it clutched to her chest so she didn't lose it against the force of the wind.

Her powers carried her up like a shot. She rushed towards the clouds, wind brushing along her body as she rocketed up, leaving a trail of purple which quickly dissolved into the air.

She burst through the clouds, burning through before stopping and hovering above. She took in a deep breath, feeling the rush of her flight and the energy of the warm sunlight around her.

It had been a while since she had a good sunbath. She soaked in the rays, feeling her heart warm. Her thoughts vanished for a while as she floated there, eyes closed.

When she felt calm, she opened her eyes and looked down at the grimy city below. Gotham wasn't much in the daylight. But, to be up here at night would be something else.

Mar'i floated down with that image in her mind. A Gotham lit by night, shadows splayed across it and lights twinkling like stars. The Bat Signal would be shining if Batman was needed, almost like a bright moon. A full moon. The kind which brought the best kind of light.

Mar'i giggled at that thought. It was rather odd to think of the very think causing her grief as 'the best kind of light'.

Wayne Manor itself stood out. It was a building on its own, surrounded by land owned by the Wayne Family. Mar'i thought for a moment before following her impulse and floating down towards it.

She didn't have many friends in Gotham she felt she could approach after a fight with her dad. However, Damian would understand.

She checked her hair and face, made doubly sure her eyes looked like a bright green human's eyes, and knocked on the door.

"What?" the sneer was heard before the door even opened enough for her to make out Damian's form.

"Rude," she responded with a grin.

He blinked and rubbed his eyes, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He looked her up and down, no doubt taking in her uniform.

"Aren't you meant to be in school?" he questioned.

"Wow. How adult of you," she responded in a deadpan.

"That doesn't answer my question." He was puzzled.

Mar'i sighed. There was no getting around this. She knew that Damian would find out sooner or later.

"Can I come in? I had a fight with Dad."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 13 – Robin(s)**

* * *

Damian was silent as he brought her up to his room. As always, his room was neat with his bed made and his easel sitting out of the way near his desk.

"Take a seat," he said nervously, realising there was only the bed and the single chair he used for both his easel and desk.

Mar'i didn't pay any attention to his nervousness as she came in and just plopped herself down on the bed. Despite basking in the sun before coming here, she felt drained.

"What happened?" Damian asked. There was no demand in his voice, making it deep and smooth, almost kind.

"Dad's mad," she responded. "And I'm mad. And it was a mess," she huffed.

Damian pulled up the chair and sat down as close as he could without touching the bed.

"And you came here? Not to be mean or anything but, it's probably the first place he'll look."

"Not if you lie for me," Mar'i grumbled back. She had considered that option but, since she flew, she probably beat him by a few hours.

Damian was silent for a moment before admitting. "I have no idea how to handle this."

"Just… listen?" Mar'i suggested, sitting up. She pulled her shoes off and crossed her legs on the bed. She told Damian about the fight. About how her dad started scolding her for getting captured and how they yelled at each other. And about her fears. "I swear, he's trying to get me to quit on my own."

Damian sat there with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"If he wanted you to quit, wouldn't he just order it?"

Mar'i snorted. "He's afraid I'll run off or something. I don't know. Maybe he's doing it to make me give up completely. That way he wouldn't have to worry about me."

"Maybe worry's the reason," Damian mused. Mar'i stared at him, waiting for more information. "Look, your dad has been around for a while. He's seen a lot. And, he doesn't take loss well."

"That's for sure," Mar'i muttered. She remembered what her dad was like after Bruce 'died' and then after Damian 'died'. Sure, he bounced back after a while and moved on but, the time between the death and moving on showed just how much they meant to him.

"And you're his daughter. He cared enough to try and keep you away."

Mar'i frowned and rested her head on her hands. "Go on."

"When you finally convinced him to let you be Nightstar, what did he do?"

Mar'i thought back. Her dad hadn't been excited about it, but;

"He got me training." She still wanted to be angry at him so she added, "couldn't even train me himself."

"Really?" Damian sounded surprised. "Who did you train with then?"

"I've got my gymnastics and other martial arts and he had me train with… some people he knows." There was no way she was going to mention that she had trained with Deathstroke.

"Hero people or criminal people?"

Mar'i cursed Damian's perceptiveness. Why couldn't he take things at face-value and move on?

"Honourable people." While mercenaries, the people Dick had her train with had their own codes of honour.

Damian smirked as if he knew exactly who she was talking about. He didn't say anything more though, leaving Mar'i wondered just what he was thinking.

"So, you announce you want to be a hero and your dad gets you training?" Damian questioned with raised eyebrows. "Gee, he sounds horrible."

Mar'i's insides churned with guilt.

"Thanks," she responded sarcastically. "You know, when I come to you with problems like this, you're supposed to agree with me."

"You're not wrong. But neither's Grayson." The air around Damian grew heavy as he quietly added, "sounds like he's actually proud of you."

Mar'i wondered if she wasn't the only one having problems with her parent.

"Um... has your dad figured out your role in the murderess' capture? Dad said he didn't bother asking for reports."

Damian's frown answered that question for her. Obviously, Bruce still hadn't figured out why Damian had been over the top with his sightings and exposure as Batman. Or even what Damian had been busy with while he was gone.

"That sucks," she commented.

* * *

Alfred came and went throughout the day, bringing things for Damian and Mar'i. Damian drew while Mar'i worked on her homework and assignments. They ducked out of the room for a few hours to play a couple of video games. Even though the eighteen year old was apparently 'grounded', Alfred overlooked their breaking of Bruce's rules and let them have a few games together. Mar'i was good enough to make Damian frustrated while playing.

"Ha! I win!"

"It was luck."

"True heroes don't need luck! I. Won."

"That's, what, still one game to my three?" Damian commented in a smug tone.

"Another round!" Mar'i announced, determined to close the gap between them.

* * *

It was late and Mar'i was beginning to consider calling her dad when someone came barging into Damian's room.

"Hey- whoa," whatever the intruder was about to say was cut off by an exclamation of surprise.

Mar'i reflexively sat up straight. She felt as if she had been caught doing something wrong, even though Jason would have no way to know that she ran away from home.

"Todd! Get out of my room!" Damian bellowed at the intruder. Jason snickered and didn't move.

"Am I interrupting?" he said in a sickly-sweet voice, designed to mess with his little brothers.

"Yes!"

"Then, you should put a sock on the doorhandle when you have a lady friend over," Jason snickered, not even buckling a little under the glare Mar'i gave him.

"Why would I put a sock on my doorhandle? That's ridiculous, Todd."

Mar'i was surprised at his ignorance. She knew what that meant and she wasn't even a guy. She was certain her mother even knew what that meant! And idioms were her mother's weakness when it came to the English Language.

"He's implying that we're dating," she translated in plain English.

Damian had a blank look on his face as he processed this. There were a few moments of silence where Jason's grin grew even wider.

"Hey, you're an adult, you can do what you like," Jason commented.

Damian exploded.

"TODD! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" He pulled out a number of Batarangs and proceeded to pelt the older man with them. Jason danced around them and ducked out the door.

"Oh, and I came because Alfred asked me to," he said, poking his head back in. Damian absorbed that information before he could toss another Batarang, freezing with it held out and ready to throw. "He wants you both at the table for dinner."

"Both?" Mar'i questioned, heart thudding. She wondered if Alfred knew about her fight with her dad. Would Dick be there?

Jason was already gone.

* * *

Mar'i didn't have anything to change into. She felt completely exposed as she walked into the large dining area wearing her school uniform.

She needed to keep her emotions under control. Having her hair burst into flames would not be good.

Alfred guided her to her seat next to Damian and across from Jason. Bruce sat at the head of the table, with Tim and Damian sitting at the sides. Mar'i noticed that her dad wasn't here.

"Sorry we're late!" Stephanie cried out as she dashed through the doors with Cassandra following her in.

"Did anyone contact Dick?" Damian asked, looking around. All they needed to finish the family picture was him and Barbara, after all.

"He's not answering his phone," Bruce announced. Alfred made an interested hum as he placed the food on the table. "And, Damian, who is your friend?"

"I'm Mar'i."

"She's actually Colin's friend," Damian responded, "and new to Gotham."

"What's she doing here if she's Colin's friend?" Tim questioned curiously.

Mar'i wondered if the questions ever stopped with this family. Seems like all they did when she was around, whether they realised it or not.

"She had a fight with her dad."

"Damian!" she hissed at him. She didn't need the Batman family knowing about her family problems.

"-Hh-. Just make sure her dad knows she's here," Bruce said. "I don't need angry parents breaking down the door."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: So I messed up my chapter numbering (there is no chapter eleven). So this is the second chapter 13 with the one Robin.

 

**Chapter 13 - Robin**

* * *

Night fell and Wayne Manor appeared silent. There were a few hours before patrol where the people of the manor were free to sleep, compile information or train. Mar'i lay on the floor of Damian's room, her hair spread in a fan across the ground while Damian stared at her from the bed.

They both knew that they would be going out that night. Nightstar and Robin couldn't be caged. There were only a few things to clear up beforehand.

Like how Robin wasn't supposed to be out and how Mar'i wasn't supposed to know.

"I'll just claim you're an idiot and heavy sleeper," Damian said with a shrug. His excuse if anyone caught him on the streets.

Not that it saved him from consequences if Robin was caught on the street.

Mar'i knew that. She also knew where his best chance of not getting caught lay.

"If we're going to sneak out, now would probably be the best time," she mused. "We've got a while before any of them turn up on the streets."

"You're not seriously thinking of going out?" Damian questioned curiously.

Mar'i was confused. "Haven't we spent the last few minutes talking about this?" she questioned. "Of course I'm going out. I can't take a night off just because I'm fighting with dad."

"He'll find you."

"Oh, probably," Mar'i waved his concerns off. After all, "and your father will find you."

"Not if I'm smart about it. I was trained by the League of Assassins."

"Doesn't Batman destroy them on a yearly basis? And didn't you disown your mother's side of the family?"

Damian glared, face flushing a little in embarrassment.

"-tt-. You shouldn't believe everything your father tells you."

Mar'i gave him a knowing smile and didn't say anything. They needed to get ready. Robin had a costume hidden in his room and Mar'i could fly to where she had a spare hidden away.

* * *

Dick could hear them coming from a mile away. Robin's complaining came through loud and clear. However, he really only had ears for the voice which was patiently and half-mindedly responding to the Robin's insistent questions.

"Nightstar?" he questioned, moving around the building to find them sitting at the edge.

Nightstar gave him a tiny wave and nervous smile.

"Grayson?" Robin questioned in surprise. Then he gave Nightstar a suspicious look because she didn't seem surprised. She knew this was part of her father's patrol route.

Dick walked over and sat down next to them. Both Graysons were nervous and stiff.

"Do we need to talk?" he asked Nightstar.

"No," she responded. "Unless it's about how Robin's been grounded."

Dick gave her a surprised look and checked the Robin sitting next to her. It was still the broad-shouldered, still growing Robin who was beginning to look a lot like Batman. So he hadn't been replaced.

"But, he's right-" Realisation hit later than it should have. "Oh. He snuck out, didn't he?"

"-tt- Technically, we both snuck out," Robin corrected. "After all, I had an interesting visitor today. One who insisted on sleeping over."

Nightstar and Dick shared a look. It was heavy with lots of different emotions on both sides.

Robin continued, "and I don't know why she didn't just sleep in your old room."

"Where-?" Dick started.

"Robin's room. I helped set up an air mattress for the night."

Dick thought about that for a moment before asking, "and the rest of the family?"

"Baffled. Although Red Hood managed to make a few jokes about it."

"I don't get how they don't figure it out. I even mentioned she's Colin's friend. Why would anyone who wasn't in this line of work be friends with both Colin and I?"

"I don't know, inform me if it happens," Dick commented dryly. "But, thanks for having her over. Um..." He fell silent, causing an awkward silence to fall over the group.

"Does it really matter if they find out?" Robin finally asked Dick. It was a question which Mar'i was suddenly asking herself.

"If they do, then so be it. She is my daughter and I won't deny that."

Something squeezed painfully tight in Nightstar's chest. She felt like she was going to cry. She didn't want to spill hot and stinging tears right now. Not while she was on a roof with her father and her father's old protégé. A change of subject was in order.

"Robin's grounded," she deflected, "so we need someone to inform him of where everyone is so he doesn't get caught."

Dick realised immediately what they were after. He did wonder if he would have been hearing from his daughter, aside from a single text saying she was okay earlier that evening, if she hadn't needed a favour for Damian.

Dick was the one who knew the Batman family best. He was the one who could best monitor their movements; his knowledge challenged only by Oracle.

* * *

Mar'i woke to sunshine on her face. She hummed happily and rolled onto her back, eyes closing against the pillow as she bathed in the warmth.

From nearby, there was a low groan, grumbled and the rustling of sheets.

"There'll be none of that Master Damian," Alfred commented as he moved through the room. "You have a guest who needs to get up for school and you need to cultivate the image that you were here all night, getting a good night's sleep."

"Like they'll believe that," Mar'i commented in a half-asleep manner as she cracked an eye open to check the time on her phone. She quickly calculated that she could sleep five more minutes and still get ready for school in time. "He could claim he spent the whole night training in the gym or something." She started to drift off again, not really paying attention to anything around her unless she had to.

"Are they even up?" Damian grumbled. He was up. Mar'i could hear his footsteps across the floor.

Her nose crinkled in annoyance. Five more minutes would have been nice but she couldn't drift off if people around her were waking up.

"Get up you lazy Grayson," Damian commented.

Mar'i cracked open an eye to see Damian standing by his wardrobe, half-undressed.

"No," she grumbled closing her eyes again. She didn't need to see him changing. Plus, the sun was warm and she never wanted to move from this spot.

"Miss, the family are expecting you to be down for breakfast. They are putting an effort into appearing like a normal family while they believe you to be an ordinary citizen," Alfred pointed out.

Mar'i sighed and sat up.

"Can we tell them?"

"So you can be lazy? No way," Damian said.

"But, they'll probably all go back to sleep after I leave," Mar'i complained.

"I won't," Damian said it like it had been a challenge. "If you need sleep so much, then maybe you should stick to your day job."

Mar'i growled at little at that but got up, grabbing her bag. Alfred had washed her clothes from the previous day, leaving her to wear her uniform again.

* * *

The table was set up just like it had been for dinner. Except, everyone seemed drowsier and a little less appraising of her.

Mar'i sat down and poured herself a bowl of cereal. Across from her, Jason was munching on some cut up apple. Tim seemed to be falling asleep in his coffee and Bruce was reading the paper.

"Where's Cass?" Damian asked as he walked in. He didn't seem tired at all. Mar'i wondered if that was because he was used to it or if he was just a really good actor.

"She's sleeping in," Jason responded. "Something about working late last night."

"-Hh-," Bruce huffed in a warning. At least, Mar'i thought she heard a warning in there. She couldn't be certain.

Jason rolled his eyes and bit down violently down on his piece of apple.

It seemed like a normal morning. At least until the door was thrown open with a bang.

"Master Richard-" Alfred started.

"Mar'i! What did you to my clocks?" Dick yelled, startling almost everyone at the table.

"Clocks?" Damian questioned with raised eyebrows at the two Graysons.

Mar'i made a show of chewing her cereal and swallowing before answering.

"I put them ahead one hour. Thought it might get you moving faster in the mornings." She glanced over at her dad. He didn't seem too mad. Just frustrated. And scruffy. He hadn't shaved with a shadow of hair around his mouth and chin. His hair was sticking out. She wondered how he had made the drive here without managing to tidy himself up.

"I almost had a heart attack, girl! What did I do to deserve that?"

Mar'i rolled her eyes. She had warned her dad the previous night, right before she and Robin left him to patrol. She had told him to not trust the clocks but, she guess he hadn't figured it out until after he woke up in a panic, believing himself late.

"I did that days ago. While you were on your trip," she informed him. That just said how much her father usually relied on clocks.

Dick seemed to calm in seconds. Or maybe he was in shock.

"Seriously?"

"I seem to remember a rather mischievous Robin doing the same thing many years ago when Batman wouldn't let him go on patrol while he was away on a business trip," Alfred commented, guiding Dick to a seat and offering him coffee and cereal.

"Karma," Damian snorted into his hot tea.

"Don't knock the classics," Mar'i informed the table.

Jason was glancing between them, trying to put the pieces together while Tim looked like he had been shaken awake.

Bruce finally put the newspaper down.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – The Butler**

* * *

Bruce's eyes scanned the table. They lingered on Mar'i and Dick.

"You... know her?" he questioned curiously.

Dick shrugged and smirked at Mar'i. "Something like that. Anyway, it's not like you were grounded or anything so why the clocks?"

Mar'i shrugged. Mostly, she had done that because she was upset that her dad had once again dropped everything to run off with Bruce Wayne. She had naively believed that her being Nightstar would allow her dad to lean on her a little. At least enough to bring her in on certain missions.

"Why is a teenage girl living with you, Dickie?" Jason questioned with a smirk. "And where'd you pick her up?"

Tim gasped in realisation. "She's Nightstar, isn't she? A protégé of yours? Why?"

Dick ignored Jason's questions and answered Tim's with, "yes, no and because she asked."

"A protégé, Dick?" Bruce questioned in a disappointed tone. Obviously, he missed the 'no'. "How much did you tell her about us?"

"Everything, but she's not-"

**_"Everything?"_ **

Mar'i wondered if this was what criminals felt when the Batman confronted them. The rumble of his voice and the pure fury was enough to make her heart freeze in fear. The way he glared at her was enough to make her feel like an insignificant insect.

"Bruce, calm down," Dick said, holding his hands up. "Let me expl-"

"Dick," Tim said to get him to stop, voice trembling in disbelief. He looked betrayed.

Jason was looking a little pale, like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Damian was not impressed.

"You told her all our secrets? Without informing me? I am _very_ disappointed in you Dick. Don't you see? You've put us all at risk and for a girl you barely know-"

"Stop arguing!" Mar'i shouted. She felt her hair flare for a moment there. It was either that or start crying. Or punch Bruce Wayne in the face. She didn't think her dad would appreciate that last one.

_'Girl you barely know.'_ Those words hurt more than she thought they could. The implication that she was just some stranger in Dick's life, the implied dismissal of her skill and trustworthiness and the question of whether she really knew anyone here; even her own dad.

* * *

The moment of silence caused by Mar'i's outburst provided Dick with an opportunity to explain.

"She's not my protégé," he said calmly and seriously. His blue eyes were level with Bruce's. "She's my daughter."

Damian examined the surprised looks the two Graysons received. When the group realised he wasn't shocked or surprised by this news they looked to him.

He shrugged, "it's true."

"What? How? Why?" Tim stuttered out, not even able to form his questions.

"That can't be," Bruce muttered. "How could you have a child?"

"She's Kori's, isn't she?" Jason questioned. Dick nodded. "How come she never mentioned her?"

"It's complicated," Dick said to Jason.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Tim asked softly.

"The same reason it's complicated."

"A child, Dick. And you didn't tell me."

"Bruce-"

"I can do the math, Dick. You were only a teenager. Seventeen or eighteen. Nineteen at the very most. _What_ were you _thinking_? Hiding a teenage pregnancy is a stupid move, it's a miracle this girl even survi-"

Then Dick bellowed. It was loud enough that Alfred ended up dropping a tray, but no one noticed. All eyes were on Dick.

"I KNOW THAT! DO YOU? DO YOU REALLY, **TRULY** KNOW?" Mar'i knew what was coming next. She had heard the story enough times. "Bruce, **you** weren't there. We _didn't_ know. Kori didn't think she could get impregnated by me. She didn't even realise she was pregnant. To stand in a hospital and be told that my girlfriend just had a baby, do you know what it's like?

"People judge Bruce. The nurses and the doctors look at you and treat you like an idiot. They scrutinise you and scold you for every choice you make. I left Kori for a few moments to call Cyborg and tell him that we wouldn't be back for a few days and returned to be yelled at by a nurse for leaving her alone."

"Wow," Jason said, sounding impressed. "With all that fuss. I'm surprised you managed to keep her a secret."

"Mar'i, I don't regret it," Dick said to her. It was many things. An apology for hiding her. A reminder she was wanted.

She nodded in response. She knew that. But, she also knew that her birth and the stress it put her parents under was one of the reasons they ended up breaking up.

Mar'i answered Jason's question instead. "They entered the hospital under aliases."

"Good thing too, since I had to fudge the dates a little."

"What dates?" Tim asked since Bruce seemed to be frozen.

"Conception dates. Mar'i was born premature. Born early enough that… that the doctors wouldn't have bothered trying to keep her alive if they knew." He glared into the distance and Mar'i wondered if some doctors were feeling a shiver crawl down their backs. "They barely tried as it was. It was only the money I pull under the excuse of _'Tower repairs'_ which had them working to keep the baby alive."

"Mum thinks I survived mostly because I'm half-Tamaranean and Tamaraneans are hardier than Earthlings," Mar'i added proudly. She was a fighter and she knew it.

Dick spoke quickly, hoping to end this. He didn't want to go into depth. "Mar'i was there for months. The hospital cared for her but anytime Kori or I went in, it was an exercise in self-restraint. It seemed like everyone there was making our lives as unpleasant as they could as well as putting us down every moment they could. So, Bruce. Don't ever question my decisions regarding _my_ daughter."

"How could you put up with that?" Tim asked. "The hospital and the staff?"

Dick just shrugged, because he didn't want to get into that, and changed the subject.

"So Mar'i recently started bugging me about getting into _the family business_."

"Recently?" Damian questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I remember the young miss had a very familiar enthusiasm for wanting to help," Alfred commented, "even as a child."

Bruce glared coldly at the butler.

"You knew?"

"Sir, I was introduced to the young Mar'i Grayson during one of your 'absences'. She visited her father here in Gotham. They were exciting times, sir," Alfred responded, in a dry tone.

Dick chuckled, "I remember that. I thought you were going to faint."

"As one does when one finds out about hidden love children."

Dick shifted like a scolded child.

"Okay, so she's been at it for a while."

"And you valiantly held out as long as you could," Alfred said in the same, dry tone. It was his version of polite rudeness and cheek.

Mar'i suppressed a couple of giggles while Damian hid his mouth behind his hand.

* * *

Mar'i wanted to stay at the manor and explore. Uncle Jason had offered to show her around the Batcave, while in the background Uncle Tim had looked horrified at the suggestion.

However, Mar'i had school and her dad wasn't letting her skip two days in a row. Unfortunately.

"You should be careful," her dad warned her as they drove away. "Batman will probably try and test you. At the very least, he will pay more attention to you than he did before."

"Really?" Because she thought now that he knew who she was, Batman wouldn't send the whole clan out after her like he had been the past few days.

Dick nodded with a solemn gaze locked on the road.

"What about everyone else?" she asked. She had the feeling Uncle Tim would leave her alone. Actually, she didn't think Uncle Tim cared for her presence at all. Uncle Jason would look out for her but not look for her. Damian would probably just keep doing what he had been doing before… if Bruce lets Robin out.

Her dad just confirmed her thoughts, although he added that she would probably be expected to visit the manor sometimes.

"Hopefully this takes a little of the heat off Damian," she mused. Although she doubted it.

"Bruce will want the whole story about you sometime soon, I'll try and change his mind about Damian then."

Mar'i wondered sadly if it would work. Neither she nor her father expected the reaction they had gotten from the family.

Why did they immediately jump to protégé? She hadn't been seen near him at all. It might have been the name, but she figured it would be faster to ask.

"I've still got to tell Oracle." Her dad sounded depressed about it. He didn't like his chances for coming out in once piece.

Mar'i thought about the woman she had met. "Good luck," she said, meaning it. Oracle hated being left out of the loop; especially when it came to something this personal about Dick.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - Bats**

* * *

After that morning, school was dull. It felt like a commercial break after a cliff hanger:

Will Bruce realise he's a meanie before Dick punches him for it, will Damian be Robin or will he make a grand return as the Batman, and will Mar'i be accepted as part of the family in some way? Find out next time!

"Sounds like you and Mr. Grayson threw the Waynes into chaos," Colin mused at lunch that day. Mar'i was sitting with him, despite being in different year levels, because he was the only one she could talk to about this.

"Yeah. If only I could feel good about what happens next," she commented. There was a sick worry in her gut. She felt good about what her dad had said and done that morning but everything else was completely uncertain.

It had been nice of him to actually ask if she would be okay with him exposing her identity to the family. Not that it went the way either of them had thought.

"Don't worry about Damian. He'll figure something out. Batman doesn't control Robin as much as he would like to think so."

"At least Dad's on Damian's side. And me too. And you."

Colin nodded.

"Although I don't know about standing up to Batman. Robin does sort of belong to him." Mar'i didn't agree and that was clear on her face. Colin coughed and elaborated, "I just hope Damian doesn't have to change his name or pave a path for himself."

"Why not?" Paving a path for themselves sounded like a great idea to her. It was basically what she was doing.

"He worked so hard to be Robin. To uphold what Robin means, to himself and to others," Colin explained. "Starting from scratch isn't right. He shouldn't have to pave a path for himself once he's already done it as Robin."

"Except he wants to be more than Robin," Mar'i pointed out. This was her father's experience speaking. Her father's stories.

There was a reason Dick Grayson agreed to let Damian Wayne be Batman while he and Bruce were out of the city.

"I guess it makes sense. He's an adult. It's not like he has to worry about an assignment due tomorrow or something."

Mar'i froze. She quickly went over her subjects and all the work assigned to them.

There was a mathematics assignment due next. She hadn't finished the final question yet.

Colin was worried when he heard that. He checked his watch. "You have twenty minutes until the end of lunch. Do you think you can find it?"

"The task sheet is in my locker. Shouldn't even take five minutes to finish." Having to write everything down was the most time consuming thing ever.

"F-five?" Colin stuttered in surprise.

"It's easy. Although, I know dad wouldn't approve if he knew I had left it so late." She used to do that as a kid, right up until the time the teacher caught her finishing all her sums in the few minutes before class started.

When her parents had found out, they both gave her lectures on laziness. Mar'i never wanted to sit through a repeat of both lectures; because she had no doubt that her dad would tell her mum and they both would have something to say about it.

* * *

The final bell of the day rang and Mar'i internally cheered. She quickly made her way out of the school.

"Hey, Starshine!" her dad called from where he had parked the motorbike.

"Dad!" she gaped in surprise and embarrassment. A couple of students around her laughed at her childhood nickname.

"Hello, Mr. Grayson," Colin said, having spotted the man and deciding to walk over.

"Colin," Dick greeted with a smile. "It's been a while. Still hanging out with Damian?" Colin nodded. "Good. He can use the friends."

"Do you know anything about what's going on?" Colin asked. "Damian hasn't been answering my calls the past few days."

Dick looked between Colin and Mar'i. "I guess you already have an idea of what went on this morning?" Colin nodded again. "The follow up happened about an hour ago."

"An hour ago?" Mar'i questioned. She thought it would have been earlier in the day than that.

"I wanted to use picking you up as an excuse to leave," Dick responded. "Hard to do that unless it's near the end of school time."

"Gee, thanks dad," she responded sarcastically.

"How did it go?" Colin questioned with a worried expression.

Dick hesitated. "Not as good as it could have gone. Robin is ungrounded, maybe."

"Maybe?" Mar'i repeated. "How do you 'maybe' unground someone?"

"By making it so they have to oversee everything. Which is worse because Damian can't sneak out."

"Damian is on mission control?" Colin questioned. When Dick nodded, he heaved a heavy sigh. "I guess we won't be patrolling around Robinson Park tonight."

"Not like anyone will be there," Dick and Mar'i said in unison. They shared surprised looks before Dick indicated for Mar'i to continue.

"Poison Ivy broke out sometime last night. No one will want to go near the park and we'll know if she does something."

"Which she won't for a few days. Batman will probably hit there later tonight anyway," Dick added with an apologetic shrug.

Colin heaved a disappointed sigh.

"I guess I'll do the usual," he commented.

Mar'i and Dick both felt for him. It was obvious that Colin missed his friend.

* * *

Nightstar was reminded of why she wanted to keep her parentage a secret.

"So, Dick's kid, huh?" Batgirl mused in a thoughtful manner. But, considering she had been following Nightstar for about 20 blocks by now, Nightstar suspected it was more teasing than out of interest.

"Got a problem with it?" she countered. Batgirl smirked and bounced over the gap in the rooftops.

"Not really, I was just wondering what it's like to be related to him. Did he think you weren't cut out for this kind of work?" She caught the twitch in Nightstar's expression. The annoyance one which meant she hit the nail on the head. "Oh, he did. I guess you changed his mind, huh? Good on you!"

"What happened to asking me to quit?" Nightstar questioned, suspicious.

Batgirl pretended to think hard about it. "I guess I realised that if you managed to convince Dick to let you be a vigilante, then you're probably not going to be swayed by anything I have to say."

That's for sure, Nightstar silently agreed. But there was another issue.

"You weren't even there this morning, how do you know who my dad is?"

"Oh, Red Robin told me."

"I thought you two broke up," Nightstar countered.

"We're still friends. I thought your dad told you everything."

Nightstar glared. She knew that however, she wanted to prod at old wounds. It seemed that Tim and Steph were good friends. Good enough that it eased the pain of their break-up.

* * *

Red Hood was easy to spot, considering he wore a red hood on his head. She could see him out of the corner of her eye, gone when she turned to look at him but there all the same. She wondered why he didn't come and speak to her.

Whatever the reason was, it couldn't be too bad since he didn't run away when she finally decided to approach him. Talking with Red Hood would go smoother than talking with Batgirl.

"You're following me and it's obvious," Nightstar said, crossing her arms and trying to look intimidating. There wasn't too much height difference between them.

"Sorry," he said in a flippant tone that wasn't sorry at all. Nightstar was not impressed.

"Whatever. Can I ask a question?"

Red Hood was surprised. "Uh, sure. I guess?"

"Why did everyone seem to think I was dad's protege? I mean, we were careful to not have anything connect him to me as Nightstar." Except maybe the training thing but she doubted that Deathstroke would share that information with members of the Batman family.

Red Hood looked away. It was really obvious, even with the hood covering his head.

"To be honest, I never said you were his protege." He attempted to redirect the conversation.

Nightstar wasn't fooled.

"If you didn't think it, you would have said something. So, why?"

"Why not?" Red Hood shrugged. "You're young and new and somehow knew Dick. We all know what he's like when there's young heroes needing instruction."

"Not to the point of taking a protege in Gotham who wasn't already here. And even then, he trusts most of you guys to be able to handle yourselves."

Red Hood snorted in disbelieve. Or at Dick's naivety.

"Or for Batman to judge the young vigilantes in Gotham," Nightstar corrected.

"Look," Red Hood huffed in an annoyed tone. "How about you ask someone else? Maybe even the Big, Bad, Bat yourself?"

Red Hood seemed more annoying. Or more annoyed at her presence.

* * *

The cameras were following her again and Nightstar resisted the urge to scream. It seemed like someone was keeping her under tight monitoring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Some action-y plot stuff coming up next chapter. (Sorry Oracle fans, she's probably not going to make an appearance until the chapter after that).


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – Oracle (the return)**

* * *

The best way to stop the cameras was to go and see what Oracle wanted. Nightstar followed the path to her base and then broke into it. It was simple. Especially after her dad spent three months putting trap after trap into the safe houses for her to get through. It was a fun game, except when she wanted to get through the house quickly. Like that one time she went to answer the phone in the kitchen and the floor dropped beneath her feet.

Nightstar brought herself back to the present by focusing on the chair where Oracle was sitting. It was black and looked comfortable. Like one of those fancy office chairs.

"Cameras are following me. Do you have something to do with that?" she demanded to know.

"I'm not behind the cameras," she said, "although I do want to talk."

Nightstar frowned. She wasn't really in the mood to talk. After all, she guessed that Oracle wanted to apologise for what she had been saying before.

"I don't care," she informed her. Internally, she was slightly nervous about telling off Oracle. She did it anyway because there was a knowing smirk on the woman's face which she didn't like.

"You look like him, you know?" Oracle said with a smile. How did she know exactly what to say to make the anger turn into confusion?

"Who?" Nightstar questioned, even though there were only a few 'hims' who could be connected to her.

"Dick," Oracle stated it as if she had known everything from the start. Which she hadn't. When Nightstar didn't look impressed, she added, "come on, I knew that someone was behind the scenes. It was him."

"I'm not his protégé," she said automatically.

"I know. You're his daughter."

Nightstar nodded. Then she smirked as she realised she had an opportunity here.

"Couldn't you tell from the name?" she questioned. She had always wanted to say that. Her name was a tribute to her parents but also a vigilante title not previously held by anyone.

Oracle's red lips turned upwards in a smile. Her eyes narrowed behind the metal frames of her glasses. Nightstar was a good name which fit the girl before her. Mar'i was a blend of her parents. Pieces of Dick's appearance with Kori's alien physique. Kori's fire with Dick's flashes of anger. Kori's righteousness with Dick's sense of justice. Kori's care with Dick's kindness.

Just because she wasn't behind the cameras, didn't mean Oracle wasn't benefiting from the information she could gleam from them.

"So, did you come just to accuse me of the cameras or was there another reason?" She was Dick's daughter; that came with a sense of methodical thinking.

Nightstar was torn between being impressed with Oracle's observations and being annoyed that she could see right through her. Oracle was cool though. She kind of wanted to be like that when she was older.

"Two reasons," she stated. "One, if you weren't behind the cameras, you would know who was. Two, I want to know why Batman won't let Robin out."

Oracle raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think I'll know that?"

"Because you know everything." It couldn't hurt to stroke her ego a little bit. It's not like it wasn't mostly true.

"Flatterer," Oracle commented with a wide grin. Nightstar was struck by just how white her teeth were.

* * *

Nightstar wasn't wrong. Oracle knew who was behind the cameras. However, 'the ex-Robin who is good with computers' wasn't really a good clue.

"They're all good with computers," Nightstar countered. She wondered whether this was Oracle's round-about-way of saying it was her father.

Oracle paused for a moment while she recalled that.

"That is true. I forgot you know more than the average vigilante." Nightstar didn't understand that comment. It didn't sound like a compliment but it also wasn't really an insult. "The one with the reputation for being good with computers," Oracle corrected.

"Oh." Nightstar's mouth dropped with the realisation. Red Robin.

"And I do happen to have access to some of the cave's surveillance," Oracle said, "and Dick's confrontation with Bruce earlier." She turned away from Nightstar to pull up a window on her computer.

Nightstar moved closer to the computer, eyes fixed on the screen but keeping Oracle in the corner of her eye.

"Ready?" Oracle asked. She started the video without waiting for a reply.

* * *

Dick and Bruce appeared on the screen. They were small, the camera a fair distance away however, their voices came through loud and clear. Bruce was sitting at the computer while Dick walked over to stand behind him.

Dick spoke first, causing Nightstar to jump a little at the volume and intensity of his voice. Oracle seemed pleased, as if she had purposely planned to shock her.

_"Bruce, we need to talk."_

_"No. We do not."_

_"Bruce-"_

_"Dick, we have nothing to talk about. Not even about your daughter."_

_"How about your son?"_ Dick countered in a hard tone. It was confrontational, even when viewed through pixels on the screen.

 _"What about Damian?"_ Bruce didn't even swerve around to face Dick.

_"Why have you grounded him? What's wrong with him taking the Batsuit out while you're gone? We've all done that before."_

Bruce sighed heavily. _"Fine. I'll talk. Dick, why do you think I took you boys and Cassandra in?"_

 _"Because…"_ Dick didn't seem to want to answer the question. _"I would like to think you felt come kind of connection to us."_

_"Why did I let you fight crime with me, even though it was dangerous?"_

_"Because we didn't give you any other choice?"_ Dick seemed confused with all the questions.

_"That is one reason, yes. But, I don't want you to turn out like me. I don't want any of you to be Batman. You, Jason, Tim, Damian, even Cass. You have your own places in the world."_

_"Being Batman doesn't make us you,"_ Dick responded.

Nightstar moved closer to the screen, trying to figure out her father's expression. It was difficult to make it out through the pixels. His stance and tone of voice gave nothing away.

_"I proved that."_

_"Dick."_ Bruce sighed again. _"You're you. Damian is… Damian has been told from birth that he's to be Batman. He has little outside of that goal."_

Dick's weight shifted back as he took a step back in surprise.

 _"You want him to… what? Find some kind of… cause?"_ Nightstar could at least tell her dad wasn't convinced and he wasn't impressed. _"You want him to find a reason to be Batman or something?"_

_"No."_

_"What is it then?"_

Bruce quickly placed his hands on the computer's console. The motion would have been an angry bang except there was no sound as he stood up.

_"I want him to find something outside of this life and being Batman. And I've a veiled and tiny hope that he'd give up on this life. I'd think you'd understand that, being a father."_

Nightstar had to glance at the elapsing time in the corner to check that the footage wasn't paused. Everything on screen seemed to stop. Her heart seemed to stop. Oracle moved out of the corner of her eye, turning to give her a look she couldn't probably see.

 _"You can't do that Bruce. Damian and Mar'i are different people with different circumstances and different abilities. You can't compare them like that."_ Dick turned to walk away.

Oracle tapped a key and the footage froze. Nightstar's heart skipped a beat as she had forgotten the other woman was there.

"Has Damian seen this?" she questioned quietly. It was the first thought which came to mind. Bruce had laid out his reasons as clear as the older man could. Even if Damian didn't like them, it would help if he knew it wasn't because of anything he did.

"No," Oracle responded firmly. It didn't occur to her to show Damian this. Really, it had nothing to do with her. But, now that Nightstar had mentioned it, she wondered if it might be a good idea.

Oracle was contemplating that when the lights flickered and there was a far-off rumble.

Nightstar had moved to the window before everything went still.

"What was that?" she questioned, hanging half-out. She could see what looked like smoke in the distance.

This night was about to get busy.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: I didn't edit this as well as I could have (time is a precious thing that I don't have much of Wednesday-Friday, I'm also in an early (+) timezone). Anyway, this chapter has action and drama.

 

**Chapter 17 – Civilians**

* * *

Reports were confusing. People were panicking. A large hole had swallowed up an area towards the edge of the city. Nightstar was kept updated by the single communications unit she had. It was connected to the ones Damian and Abuse carried. Since he was in the cave, Damian relayed what everyone else was doing to them. Oracle had quickly linked up all the other vigilantes to keep them updated.

The sinkhole had caused the earth to rumble as the buildings around it were sucked down.

"-tt- At least none of them are Wayne buildings," Damian mused over the comm. Trying for humour but it wasn't funny.

"Of course," Nightstar responded sarcastically. She thought it was a stupid thing to focus on while people were in trouble.

"I'm not sure this is natural," Damian mused instead, changing the subject.

Nightstar shook her head and didn't comment. Those raised by the Bat seemed to spend way too much time looking for other explanations. Besides, the sinkhole might not be caused by natural forces, it could be a result of human urbanisation of the wrong areas.

* * *

She reached the nearest building. She could see the sinkhole beyond it, a dark hole with rubble flicking in its depths. There was a large apartment building right at the edge. The wall facing the hole was completely gone, fallen into the depths below. Nightstar could see the people inside, running around or cowed in fear. Bricks had fallen, shaken loose by the structural fragility, and were still crumbling down into the street. The entrance was standing so Nightstar rushed in.

Instantly, she realised why none of the trapped people had come rushing out. The stairs had been cut off by the ceiling falling through them.

"You've got to be kidding me," she commented as she started trying to move some of the rubble. It became obvious, with the building beginning to groan, that this wasn't going to work. "How many corners did they cut?" she questioned out loud. Because it was easier to blame bad workmanship and cutting corners rather than think about the possible reason for it. She looked around; the elevator wouldn't be safe but the built in fire escape might be a good idea. She quickly opened the door, pulling it from its hinges as it had been locked, and cut out running altogether by flying up.

* * *

Over the comm, Damian informed her that Batman and Red Robin were helping to direct an evacuation of nearby buildings. Red Hood had turned up was putting certain civilians in charge of evacuating their buildings as well as trying to get a head count.

Dick and Steph had formed an odd alliance to do their job of helping those who weren't physically fit enough to evacuate quickly. Dick was carrying a few children down the sides of buildings to their parents while Steph was stuck with cajoling the older folk out of their beloved homes.

* * *

Nightstar yanked open door after door on the first floor, locked or not. She found a man crying over the loss of his sister's bedroom, which had fallen with the side of the building. It took more than a few words to bring him out of it enough to run to safety.

A family had been waiting for someone to come to tell them where to go. She ordered them outside and gave them the location of the nearest vigilante, which just so happened to be Batman.

"Is there anyway to contact everyone in the building?" she asked the man as his wife gathered a few things for the children. Just some books and pens to keep them busy during the next few hours.

The man shook his head. Nightstar sighed. She had already tried the fire alarm. For some reason, the alarm didn't work. She believed something had been pulled out with half the building missing, something important to having the alarm work.

"Here," the woman said, handing her a bell. Nightstar was grateful but also sceptical. This wasn't helpful for her goal of getting everyone out quickly.

She went to the second floor. On one side, whole apartments had begun falling in. On the other, some people slept without even realising that there was a state of emergency going on outside. Others had been crowded at the fire escape, banging on the door as they tried to break it down. Those people had been very relieved to see her when she yanked the door away.

Super strength did have its advantages.

One building cleared and Nightstar felt this was taking too long.

* * *

Damian apologised over the comm as he ditched the computer and cave. He pulled on Robin's uniform without a second thought.

Nightstar didn't blame him. She had heard Abuse's cry for help through the comm. as well. It felt like a failure on her part that she couldn't abandon the people in the next building to rush off and help Abuse. Abuse had been trying to 'dissuade' some of the looters taking advantage of the emergency services being busy.

She cursed the horrible people who thought of making trouble when so many others were losing everything.

* * *

"Nightstar!"

She jumped at the sound of her father's voice in her ear. She twisted around before recalling the comm.

"Dad?" she questioned, wondering why he was talking to her. She had just finished carrying an old lady out onto the street with a child who had been left home alone following behind her. "How-"

"I ran into Robin. He gave me his comm. Where are you?" he asked. She could hear the worry in his voice. It bugged her a little.

"Is this really the time to be asking?" she questioned. The building she was in groaned and something crashed. She blinked as her sense of balance went askew. She answered his question anyway. She had taken note of the name of the building and the street she was in when she had run in.

It was some kind of youth hostel. While run down, it boasted good security.

"Nightstar, you need to get out of there!"

"In a moment!" she responded. She was here because she had heard a scream. There was someone in this building.

"No, right now!"

"There's someone in here!" She couldn't leave without helping them! They were in danger!

There! A woman, only a few years older than her, stumbling around and crying her eyes out. Scared and confused.

Nightstar reached her and lightly and comfortingly touched her.

The woman sobbed but grabbed on tightly.

"Let's get out of here," Nightstar said to her. She looked around, ready to move.

That's when she realised why her balance was off. It was the building.

It was slanted, like it was sinking.

Nightstar didn't have time to think. She lifted the woman up and bolted for the nearest window.

That is when she learnt that flying does no good when there are wall all around. The last thing she recalled was the wall rising across to meet her as she tried to reach the sliding window in time.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: So, I have a tumblr now. I go by[ quinquinis](http://quinquinis.tumblr.com). I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I have enabled asks if you have something you want to say. Reviews here are also most welcome.
> 
>  

 

**Chapter 18 – Safety Net**

* * *

Nightstar didn't remember escaping the building.

She remembered feeling sick. And dizzy. Not knowing which way was up. When she woke, those feelings were still with her. Along with the pain of landing on the remains of a broken building. A pang of pain ran through her shoulder as she shifted. Her leg burned.

She couldn't help the little gasp of pain which escaped her. A hand flew to hear ear and she could feel that the comm. had been damaged. There were sharp pricks in her fingers from wire and casing. They came away with spots of blood on her tanned skin.

This was not good. She knew that. Everyone had probably heard her fall! Worst of all, her dad had warned her and she hadn't listened. He would certainly stop her from going out as Nightstar based on that alone.

She had been so foolish!

Calm down, she repeated to herself silently. She needed to calm down. Her heart was racing and she wouldn't be able to fly unless she could stop hyperventilating and stabilise her emotions.

"Calm down," she said quietly. "Calm down," she repeated. "Breathe in... one, two, three, four... breathe out, one, two, three, four." She kept saying it, doing it and her heart-rate slowed.

Just when she thought everything would be fine, the body next to her left out a whimper of pain. Nightstar's heart shuddered in hope and fear as she looked over the reason she had put herself in danger.

The woman had been protected by her body as much as possible as they had fallen down here. However, her leg had caught on something. Blood was still slowly dribbling from the wound, trailing down the rubble which they were resting on. The woman's skin was covered in gravel and dust, possibly hiding more injuries.

Nightstar touched the woman's face. It was damp, hot and her breath was shallow. It was not a good sign.

Panicked and unstable though she was, Nightstar didn't think this woman could wait for her to get her act together. It was only the light of Nightstar's hair which allowed her to see a small distance around them. She didn't carry flares.

An attempt at a starbolt only created a momentary purple light which burned out after a moment.

Nightstar closed her eyes and called to mind a happy memory. It was the one which helped fuel her flight; carefully locked in her mind for easy access, a trick her mother had spent an entire month ensuring she had down. It seemed to work. She could stand, even though most of her weight was only pressing down on one leg, if at all.

"Time to get out of here," she said, trying to project some confidence into the situation.

* * *

It seemed that fate was against her. A feeling of helplessness swelled through her as she dropped to the ground. They were on the ground and out of the hole. The air was clear.

But the roads were abandoned. Pain blossomed all over Nightstar's body and gravel from the road dug into sensitive cuts, exposed by rips in her uniform.

She had nothing she could use to call anyone.

"Come on," she said, gritting her teeth. She pulled herself to her feet, using a building for support. The edge of the sinkhole was, what she considered to be, a safe distance behind her. The woman would be safe on the road for a bit, especially if this area was already evacuated. Nightstar made slow progress to the main road. She looked up and down the street, not seeing a single phone booth she could use to call for help.

"Great," she muttered in sarcastic annoyance. The little pang of annoyance was the most emotion she could manage right now. If it wasn't for her need to get the woman to safety and medical attention, she would collapse right here and now.

Flying out of the sinkhole had been a challenge, like walking the final stretch of a marathon.

As she turned, she spotted the trail her hair left as she moved. Maybe, it's light could act as some kind of signal?

She hoped that someone was looking for her as she used the last of her energy for a burst of flight into the air.

"Come on!" she shouted, feeling her hair trail flames in her path.

Then, for the second time that night, she fell.

* * *

Nightstar fell on purpose. She only had enough energy for one last burst of flight, enough that she could use it only at the last moment to keep herself from splattering on the pavement. Even so, it was nice to feel her father's arms wrap around her and pull her along as they moved towards the ground. She could keep that energy for later.

Dick landed with only a slight grunt. Then he looked his daughter over from head to toe.

"That was stupid," he said, most of his anger evaporating into worry at her state. She shouldn't even be able to move with her leg the way it was.

Nightstar didn't disagree, she just shifted as best she could and pointed at the woman lying in the street. Dick glanced over and heaved a sigh.

"B, I need support," he announced. He listened to Bruce's voice on the other end with thinly veiled annoyance and frustration. "Nightstar is injured, she needs to be looked at since she pulled an also injured civilian out of the sinkhole."

"I'm fine," she insisted, hoping that would get the woman help quicker.

Her dad glared at her.

"Don't even try that. We're going to see Alfred and then you're going home." Then, addressing whomever was on the other side of the comm. "And if someone doesn't get here in five minutes, then I'm taking the civilian to the Batcave as well."

The Batcave? That helped improve Nightstar's mood a bit. She knew she would be in big trouble once her dad learnt got her looked at and she wasn't looking forward to that one bit. But, it might be worth it, if she got to spend some time in the Batcave.

Robin appeared a few moments later with a frown on his face and a bulky shadow off to the side.

"How bad is it?" he asked, looking Nightstar off.

"I'm fine," she huffed, pointing again to the woman.

At least Damian seemed to listen to her. He walked over and started patching the woman up.

"How'd you know to come here?" Dick questioned, asking both Robin and Abuse.

"You're broadcasting over all channels. Including ours, thanks to my comm in your ear," Robin pointed out.

"I explained what was happening to Robin as it was coming across," Abuse said nervously.

Dick seemed to find that to be a plausible explanation.

"I'm fine," Nightstar huffed, seeing how Abuse was looking at her injuries. She cursed how she wasn't able to wriggle out of her father's hold. Illegitimate princess she might be, but she didn't need to be carried like one. It was also uncomfortable at her size, like a bed a few sizes too small.

"Who are you trying to convince?" Robin grumbled at them. "Just get her to Alfred!"

* * *

Mar'i squirmed under Alfred's looks. He had been gentle and took care while patching her up. But when it came to explaining exactly what her injuries were, he gave her some of the most disappointing looks she had ever received.

She had to stay off her feet for the next week, at the very least. Dick gave solemn nods that those instructions would be followed. Mar'i caved and agreed after just moments under the disapproving glare. She tugged at the sling around her arm as she had never had one before. It was kind of restricting.

"Can I trust you to take her home?" Alfred asked Dick. "Or should she stay here for a few nights?"

"Mar'i should be alright at home," Dick admitted, although nervously. He seemed to blur as Mar'i's eyes stopped focusing.

She yawned. Fighting off the tired feeling in her body was getting harder.

"That would be the sedative kicking in," Alfred informed her. The sedative felt weird to her; like something heavy crawling through her veins. "I'm glad it worked on someone of your biology, Miss Nightstar."

Her eyelids drooped down and she could feel herself being pulled down into sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 – Acting Civilians**

* * *

Mar'i cracked an eye open. The large blurry figure at the side of her bed came into focus, Damian's blue eyes looking down at her. His eyebrows were drawn in worry and he looked like had hadn't slept.

"Please tell me you're not in my room again," she ground out, trying to lighten the situation. She had been stupid and didn't want to know what the consequences were right now. Not when she felt like she had run into a number of tables and chairs.

"Your dad asked me to watch you," he responded with a shrug.

Mar'i groaned. Someone needed to tell her dad that it probably wasn't appropriate to leave a man in the house with his unconscious daughter.

Not that Damian would do anything. She suspected he was only thinking about _justice_ and other typical Wayne things.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. Mar'i had to refocus on his figure. "Hungry? Thirsty?"

She thought about it.

"I could go for some food," she said. Then she remembered something her dad told her about Bruce Wayne. "Are you able to cook?"

"I don't think you'd appreciate my kind of cooking. I brought some soup from Alfred," Damian responded with a small smile, getting up.

Mar'i let him go and waited while he put something in the microwave.

"So, what's the news with the hole?" she asked when he returned with two bowls of soup.

He passed one bowl to her while he took the other one for himself.

"It seems to be a normal sinkhole," he informed her. "It stopped expanding shortly after we found you. Took out a good block and a half of buildings and we're still waiting for a final tally of missing and suspected dead. You'd have to be some kind of monster to survive falling down there."

Mar'i placed her spoon into her soup and fixed him with a glare. "Gee, thanks," she grumbled out. So she was a monster, was she?

Damian paused while he tried to puzzle that out. She could see the exact moment he realised the implications of his words. His face screwed up in a silent curse.

"Not everyone can fly," he said by way of apology.

As apologies went, it was pretty terrible. The words 'I'm sorry' never crossed his lips and his comment didn't change how he was inadvertently calling her a monster. However, she could see he was trying.

* * *

When Mar'i finished her soup, she could feel the tiredness creeping up on her again. She leant back in the pillows and was ready to go back to sleep.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot!" Damian proclaimed, jumping to his feet. He went across and opened the curtains, flooding the room with sunlight. "Your father said you might heal faster if you could get some light."

Mar'i let out a groan as the light pricked at her eyes. It was warm and she couldn't deny the energy she could feel in the air around her. However, she still needed sleep and sleep and light didn't go together very well.

"Dad says a lot of things," she grumbled.

There was a low chuckle, warm and amused. Mar'i had to suffer one eye opening against the light just to check that the sound came from Damian. She hadn't known he could laugh like that.

"I agree with that," he said, coming back over to sit down. "Grayson likes to talk a lot."

"Dick," Mar'i said. She couldn't see Damian's face but she assumed it must have been puzzled like his tone.

"Pardon?"

"We're both 'Grayson'. Just call dad by his name. Dick."

Damian huffed. "Fine. Dick likes to talk a lot."

"I agree."

"Well, duh. You said it first," Damian pointed out in a petulant tone.

"Where is dad?" she asked, shifting a little in bed to get comfortable.

"I thought you were going to sleep."

"Nah." She had an arm over her eyes to keep the light out but, she could still tell it was there. That made it difficult to sleep, even with the aches she was feeling all over her body. "Talk with me while I sunbathe."

"You're going to fall asleep in the middle of it," Damian muttered under his breath before launching into a report.

Dick was out with Bruce, trying to figure out where money was needed to help fix this disaster. Jason was exploring the sinkhole and his findings would be used to determine whether this had happened accidentally or intentionally.

Mar'i didn't hear where Tim was, she had fallen asleep.

* * *

Mar'i opened her eyes to a dark room, feeling more alert than before. She could feel the stiffness of the stint her leg was trapped in and the sling around her arm. The sling was pulling at her neck and she wriggled a little, trying to get it to sit right.

"Annoying," she muttered as she pulled the sheets off using her good arm. Her leg was trapped past the knee, unable to bend. It would make moving around difficult.

There were dark splotches all over her skin and her leg was still visibly swollen.

Mar'i didn't want to think about how long she would be trapped in this apartment for while she healed. Instead, she started puzzling ways to get around which wouldn't use any of her powers.

She stepped out of bed and hopped across to the wall, leg dragging behind her. Her balance was almost perfect but, she couldn't stop and almost ended up going through the wall. Instead, she ended up leaning heavily against it.

"Mar'i," her dad sighed, appearing in the doorway. He had heard the bang.

"Uh, hi?" she responded, realising she hadn't seen him since being treated. He hadn't shaved and stubble was beginning to form across his chin.

"You alright?" he asked, reaching out. Mar'i grabbed his arm and he helped her stay steady.

Her face was flaming in embarrassment. Her dad hadn't helped her to balance since she was four!

They hobbled down into the kitchen where he seated her at the table. Toast and various spreads were piled in the middle, surrounded by cereal boxes and a carton of milk. Across from her, Damian was munching on a bowl of cereal.

"I thought you would have gone home by now," Mar'i commented.

"Nope," Damian responded simply.

"Damian will be staying with us for the next few days. At least until I can get things cleared up between him and Bruce."

"Don't count on it," Damian grumbled. "It's none of your business anyway."

"Did you two have a fight?" Mar'i asked innocently. She wasn't surprised.

Damian gripped his spoon tightly and his face darkened in anger.

"Father questioned my presence on the streets. Like I need a reason to help when the city's in chaos."

"Like I said, I'll talk to Bruce," Dick said. "Perhaps I can convince him that he's… being too harsh."

Mar'i looked over at her father, recalling the video Oracle had shown her. The pause reminded her of it. Her dad knew. He knew exactly why Damian's father was doing this.

Why wasn't he telling Damian Bruce's reasons?

* * *

Mar'i waited until Damian left. He said something about visiting Abuse as he ducked out of the apartment window with a bag pulled over his shoulder.

"Do you agree with Grandpa Bruce?" she asked as the question had been rolling around in her mind all morning.

Dick paused for a moment in his sit ups. Then he continued.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Oracle showed me the video. Grandpa Bruce wants Damian to find something outside of being Batman to focus on. Do you think the same?"

Dick sighed and lay back on the ground.

"I guess. It'd be nice but it's not always the case. Your Uncle Jay pretty much lives the vigilante life and I tried to turn my passion for it into a police career. Your Uncle Tim is the only one who really works outside of vigilantism. Although, he mostly uses his career as a means for money, resources and connections for Red Robin to exploit."

"Not really answering the question, Dad," she pointed out with a roll of her eyes. Her dad just could not answer things plainly when he was speaking to her. "Do you think Grandpa Bruce is right?"

"Honestly? I don't really know, Starshine. He makes good points."

She decided to change the question.

"Why don't you just tell Damian what Grandpa is thinking?"

"No. That's Bruce's place. They really need to work on their communication-"

"You can't give it a little push?"

"Ha. I don't want Damian to push himself into doing something he hates just to become Batman. We'd end up back here eventually if that happened."

Mar'i wondered if they really would. She didn't think so. It didn't help that her leg was itching, making her irritable. She couldn't reach under the stint to scratch.

"Have you tried at least asking?"

"Asking?" Dick was confused. Asking who what?

Mar'i huffed.

"Have you tried asking Damian if there is anything outside of Batman that he wants to do?"

"Um…" That was an obvious ' _no'_.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 - College Students**

* * *

"Wouldn't Bruce know? I mean, you don't have anything else you want to do-"

"Science." That stopped Dick dead in his tracks. She could see him struggle to comprehend.

"What?"

"I. Would Like. To do. Science," she repeated slowly. "Some kind of science degree. I've still got a year to go so I'll look into which sciences interest me next year but," she shrugged. Her point was made.

Her dad was staring at her with his mouth open and his eyes wide. It took him several moments to pull himself back together. She didn't think he would be so shocked to find out. Surely he didn't think all she had was being a vigilante? Even vigilantes needed day jobs!

"Science?" he questioned.

Her heart was thudding in her chest as she nodded in response. She had never mentioned this before and it felt like a strange kind of bearing of her soul. Her father's reaction was a complete unknown.

"Um... like biology or chemistry?" Dick asked.

"I do both at school," Mar'i pointed out.

"What about physics?"

"I don't really like physics. The maths part is nice but it's... a lot of paper, memorising and writing and very little experimenting. Most of it is theoretical and proving theories."

"Forensics?"

"Not going to be a cop, dad," Mar'i commented with a good-naturedly roll of her eyes and laugh.

"I see." Dick didn't know how to react to this. He had his hands folded on the table, fingers intertwined but twitching with nervous energy.

He should have known this about his daughter... right?

"Um... I never..." It felt like admitting defeat. "Where were you thinking of studying?"

Mar'i instantly answered, "where do you think? Gotham U. We just moved here and I'm not ready to leave yet."

"Oh." He felt like slapping himself. That did seem kind of obvious. He just hoped she didn't drop out of college the way he did. "Huh," he voiced as it felt like some kind of weight lifted from his chest. "So you've actually been thinking about what you want to do."

"Of course," Mar'i responded with a grin. Dick's hands had parted, no longer trembling with nervous energy. "And, even if I wasn't, high school teachers do encourage that line of thinking a lot."

Dick was reminded of why they were talking about this as he wondered if it was the same for Damian.

"I doubt Damian even spent enough time in class for those kind of discussions."

Mar'i gave him a bland look, showing him that she wasn't impressed with his attempt at humour that time.

* * *

Mar'i was reminded that Damian was staying when he walked through the door that evening. Unfortunately, she could curse his timing.

Dick was sitting at the table with his laptop in front of him, gushing at the screen.

"Science, she says! Isn't that adorable? She's so much like you," he was saying to the person on the other end.

"I should be saying that to you," Kori's smooth voice flowed out of the speakers. "She does want to study on Earth instead of with me."

"Here on Earth, you need to get a 'degree' thing if you want people to take you seriously and give you a job!" Mar'i called out from the couch. She ignored Damian's scrunched up little nose; he didn't seem to enjoy hearing Dick gush about his daughter with the ex.

"They still talk to each other? Like friends?" he questioned as he sat down next to her and clicked on the TV.

"Who?"

"Your parents."

"Yeah, of course," Mar'i responded, mouth moving faster than her thoughts. "They have me-" she stopped instantly as she recalled Damian's parental situation. A bit like hers, except his parents were almost mortal enemies and his mother would kill his father and anyone else who got in her way. Including Damian.

"They're both too forgiving for their own good," she responded with a shrug. "Although, there was a time where they could hardly bare to look at each other. But now, there's like no chance of them getting back together romantically so they settled into being friends."

Damian gave her a confused look and glanced over to where Dick was telling Kori about Mar'i's 'heroics' during the sinkhole incident. He was up to the part where she was evacuating an entire building by herself.

"You sure?" he questioned as they seemed quite friendly with each other.

Mar'i nodded.

"I think that's why they're still friends."

Damian pondered that for a few moments.

"And what was Dick saying about science before?"

"I finally told Dad about my aspirations for the future," she informed him with a lopsided grin. "I'm going to do something science related at Gotham U. He seems okay with it."

"-tt-. Well, their science division is good. Hopefully better than their business division."

Mar'i wondered where he heard that.

"Mar'i, come talk with your mother!" Dick called and waved, despite them being in the same area.

Mar'i was a little surprised that the first thing her mother pointed out was that experience was just as valuable as 'formal education'. Kori had a lot of knowledge in the sciences and made attempts to keep up with current Earth discoveries. Mar'i had to state that she wasn't going to be an astrophysicist at least twice when her mother started talking about taking her on field trips into space.

* * *

Mar'i kept half an ear on what was happening on the couch. Dick had taken her spot, sitting down next to Damian.

"Are you thinking about going to Gotham U?" Dick asked Damian. It was the most nonchalant way of trying to find answers he could think of.

It was either ask about college and a job or get Red Robin to look into it.

"Nope," Damian responded, pulling out a laptop. He started it up, staring at the screen instead of at Dick.

Fortunately, Dick didn't need someone to look at him in order to continue a conversation.

"Why not? Are you working too hard?"

Damian thought about this for a few moments, staring at the wall as he thought.

"-tt- I already said that Gotham U's business division is badly run, especially in comparison to other colleges. People tell me that the professors are being let go or sent to other locations, it's overcrowded and little to no money is spent on keeping the facilities neat. There's apparently a real push into moving the course completely online."

Dick looked mystified. This was a day of confusion for him. "How do you know that?"

"One of my team members for this group assignment we're working on used to go there."

"This group assignment you're working on?" Dick repeated in a high pitched voice. How was it these kids could run circles around him when one's supposed to be laid up in bed with injuries and the other wasn't around for most of the day?

"Yeah. It's due in two days but we're done so we spend our time just chatting," Damian said with a shrug. "Most of them know I live in Gotham and spent this morning asking about the sinkhole."

"Two days?" Dick questioned in a mystified tone.

"Didn't you hear me, Grayson? We finished already. It's submitted. And it was far too simple for someone like myself. I fear for the future of American businesses."

Dick shook his head. "I'm sorry, _two days,_ as in, you're studying right now?"

"Right now? -tt- Of course not, I'm working on something for Timothy. I just came from watching an online lecture, which was boring by the way, what kind of idiot can't-"

"I mean, you're in college?" Dick quickly cut Damian off as he needed clarification on this.

"Yeah," Damian grumbled, rolling his eyes. "As your daughter eloquently put it, ' _you need to get a 'degree' thing if you want people to take you seriously_ '. Besides, I took the Wayne scholarship offered to any employee of Wayne Enterprises."

"The- you mean _Bruce_ is paying for it?" Dick questioned in shock, wondering how Bruce missed this.

"No. Wayne Enterprises is." Damian looked at him like he was stupid and that was supposed to be obvious.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Was supposed to post this chapter last night but I took the extra time to make sure to get it just right (failed on that but this is good at least). Some of the conversations here were difficult to write, especially Damian's and Dick's at the end (that went through three or four rewrites). Now, I don't know much about American schooling, being Australian and all, but I've done a few quick google searches to try and make sure everything at least sounds right. Although, the views expressed in this about the 'Business course' are based off my sister's own complaints with her university studies.
> 
> I have a headcanon for this fic that Gotham U is great for the sciences and philosophy and psychology courses but, even though it's home to Wayne Enterprises, it's business course has dropped in quality as focus is put on those 'great' courses. People come to Gotham to study science and the crazies, not to study business.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 – Uncle Jason**

* * *

Mar'i was determined. Her father was a wall of 'no'.

"No," he said. "You're not going out. You need to heal."

Mar'i frowned.

"I thought you weren't going to have any say on what Nightstar does."

"Yes. But, I'm still your father and I'm not letting Mar'i go out and get even more injured. You've already had days off school because of this and you'll heal quicker in bed."

Mar'i frowned at him. She wasn't happy with that answer but she did understand it.

Mostly. She felt like she was going to go crazy staying in this apartment. It didn't help that Damian was in and out all the time.

Damian was in right now, having walked in during the afternoon with a sketchbook and pencils in his arms. He had claimed the couch as his and spread out all over it.

It vaguely reminded Mar'i of a cat. Cats did that kind of thing, didn't they?

"Look, you and Damian can keep each other company," Dick said, sounding frustrated. "Just, don't burn the apartment down or anything."

"What are you talking about, Grayson?" Damian stated from his seat. "I'm going out."

"Damian," Dick sighed. "I thought Bruce took your Robin costume?"

"Would you let that stop you?" Damian questioned in return. "I'm going to meet up with Colin and we'll patrol a few streets."

"As Robin?" Dick looked over the couch but didn't see any sign of a red and black uniform.

"No, as the tooth fairy," came the sarcastic response. "Yes, as Robin! I have a few uniforms hidden away that Father doesn't know about. -tt-"

Mar'i couldn't help giggling at the amusing response. Also, the image of Damian jumping across rooftops in a tutu and wings.

Dick couldn't do anything to stop Damian from going out. Damian was in perfect condition and Dick wasn't his father. Also, Damian wasn't wrong; in his shoes, Dick would be doing the same thing.

Mar'i, on the other hand, was injured and his daughter.

"Mar'i, you can have mission control," Damian said.

Mar'i gave him a confused look. How did he plan to get her to the safe house?

As he heard her unspoken question, Damian picked his bag up off the ground and pulled a laptop out of it. It was some of the latest technology, fast, reliable and strong. Due to software Damian installed on it, it would be able to pick up the vigilantes' signals and all Mar'i needed to communicate with them was a mic. Damian just happened to have a pair of headphones with a mic attached.

Dick stopped arguing. He could see these kids were stubborn and having Mar'i in front of a computer might be better than leaving her in the apartment, bored.

'A bored Grayson was a dangerous Grayson', as Alfred had once said to Bruce many, many years ago. Although Alfred had used the word 'kid' or 'sidekick'; it was a long time ago and Dick didn't recall the saying correctly, just that Alfred had been talking to Bruce about him.

* * *

Mar'i was bored. Damian and Abuse were the only ones really talking to her but there wasn't much to talk about. Nothing seemed to be happening on the streets as most criminals were laying low after the sinkhole incident. There were rumours floating around that it wasn't the last. That more were going to happen.

Additionally, there were rumours floating around that the sinkhole had been created by the government, by any one of the crazies from Arkham and one theory even placed Bruce Wayne's company behind it. That latter one was people making a connection between Wayne Industries' people reaching out to help those; some called them a 'clean-up crew' for Wayne.

Her earpiece crackled with static. Then, a familiar, smooth voice which promised trouble spoke.

"Have I got the injured Princess?"

* * *

Mar'i instantly perked up. "Uncle Jay?" Now, this couldn't possibly be boring!

Jason, or Red Hood as he was currently out on the streets, chuckled.

"'Uncle Jay', you know, I didn't think I'd like the sound of that."

"Dad considers you a brother and that makes you my uncle," Mar'i said, "the name stays."

Jason chuckled again.

"Relax, Princess. You can call me Uncle. Besides, I'm calling you about family matters anyway."

"Calling?" She touched the piece in her ear. It wasn't exactly your usual phone. In fact, "this is supposed to be a secure line."

"I hacked it."

"Not going to tell me how?" It might come in handy but the negative response on the other end was what she expected. "Figures," she muttered.

"Listen, I have a plan."

"A plan for what?"

"Put simply, to annoy Bruce." _X'hal_ , she could hear the grin. This uncle was the best uncle.

"You need a plan to annoy Bruce or you already have one?" Mar'i question.

"Princess, if I didn't have a plan, would I be calling you?"

"Yes."

Silence sounded on the other end for a few moments. "...okay, I'll give you that one." He had part of a plan to annoy Bruce.

Jason thought something where Bruce would have to be up early after a big night out as Batman. Whatever it was, would have to be important enough that Bruce would have to say alert during it.

He had been thinking something involving a business meeting, which he could get Tim or Damian to arrange.

Mar'i vetoed that plan. From her dad's stories, Mar'i had painted a picture of Bruce Wayne as a man who could bluff his way through a meeting, even when exhausted. At the very least, Bruce could get Alfred to call him in sick or something like that.

Jason had been disappointed to hear that. He had to admit, Mar'i was right.

"I have a better idea," Mar'i pointed out. Jason was doing this to get back at Bruce for doing what he saw as kicking Damian out and her plan would give those two a chance to sort things out.

If her dad didn't force them to do it beforehand.

"Even Alfred would be okay with that plan," Jason mused at the end. He contemplated it for a few moments. "Okay, let's do it. But, how do you plan to get Damian there?"

Mar'i laughed. That was the easy part.

* * *

This was not going to end well. That thought flashed across Dick's face as he entered the apartment via his bedroom window to find his daughter sitting on his bed.

"How did you get in here?" he asked, surprised. She was supposed to be in bed, if not communicating with the equipment they left on the kitchen table.

Mar'i gave him a flat look and floated on the spot. Sometimes her dad was a real idiot. She was a literal 'Flying Grayson'.

"Right," Dick sighed, moving further into the room. "I assume you have something to say?"

"Alfred's hosting a family breakfast, well, more like an early brunch, tomorrow morning and I want to go."

Dick was shocked. He hadn't heard about this.

"Who invited you?" he questioned.

"Dad," Mar'i huffed in a whining tone. "You told them I'm part of the family. They're now treating me as part of the family." Actually, only Jason was but she wasn't going to tell her dad that. One out of the three brothers (who weren't her dad) was great. "Can we go?"

Dick rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was tired and this meant getting up very early to drive to Wayne Manor.

"Who knows, it could be a chance for Damian and Bruce to talk."

"Yeah, like that's going to go well," Dick muttered under his breath. A little louder, he said, "sure. Let's go." He had been trained to operate on little sleep.

* * *

Damian cracked open an eye to purple, flickering flames. Alien green eyes stared at him and a familiar grin lit up the face before him. Damian had seen that grin on Grayson's face a few times; it meant trouble. In fact, he could see it right now; Dick was standing at the entrance with the same expression on his face.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: I'm working on my group scenes...  
>  and am way too tired to edit this properly.

 

**Chapter 22 - Lex Corp (not to be mentioned at breakfast)**

* * *

Damian couldn't say 'no'. Not with both Mar'i and Dick asking him to come. So Damian found himself at Wayne Manor, waiting for one of Alfred's breakfast spreads. It wasn't bad, he decided, especially since it seemed to just be him and the Graysons.

Neither Grayson was impressed when he made that comment.

"Where is everyone?" Mar'i complained, resting her head in her arms in frustration. Maybe she shouldn't have trusted Uncle Jason?

Her dad shrugged while Damian started snoring with his head on the table. Mar'i glared at him.

"Maybe they're sleeping in?" her dad suggested.

"What about Grandpa Bruce?" she questioned. This was his house, after all. The least he could do was appear at breakfast. She lowered her voice and whispered to Dick, "do you think he's avoiding Damian?"

"That's not it." But he didn't sound certain of that. "Maybe I'll go and-"

"Hey, where's everybody?" Jason asked. He was standing in the doorway with a jacket slung over his shoulder and a disappointed scowl on his face. There was what looked like flour on his face and shirt.

"No idea," Dick responded.

Jason's expression darkened.

"Oh, no way! I made pancakes!" he turned and they could hear him stomping along the hall, along with the fading comments of, "got off my butt to cook for those-" It sounded threatening. Mar'i kind of wanted to watch.

Damian didn't move. Dick seemed delighted at the prospect of pancakes.

"Where are you going?" her dad asked as she stood up.

"To watch."

"Watch what?"

"She probably wants to see Jason lay into Timothy. Bet you ten dollars he drags Timothy in here by his ear."

Dick looked annoyed at that comment. He was about to say something when Jason returned with Bruce and Tim. Both were dressed in their PJs; Bruce in a grey silk shirt and pants and Tim in a cotton superman shirt and shorts.

Both looked sleepy, although Bruce masked it with a face like stone.

Jason shoved them in and told them to take a seat. He was grinning. Mar'i figured it was because his goal had been achieved. Bruce looked straight ahead in a way which made you wonder if one could sleep with their eyes open. Tim just looked drowsy and annoyed. But he couldn't say anything because Jason had gone to a lot of work to get this going. Bruce took his regular spot at the head of the table while Tim stumbled around the side and ended up sitting across from Damian.

Alfred wheeled in a breakfast cart. It was loaded with coffee, cream, pancakes, fruits, toast and juice. Mar'i felt her mouth water at the sight.

"Why would you ever move away from here?" she asked her dad.

"Why do you think?" he responded. She figured that he wouldn't say it in front of Damian in case it gave the current Robin an ideas. After all, Dick had left because he felt trapped in Bruce's shadow. It had been a situation similar to the one Damian was currently going through. They should consider themselves lucky that Damian hadn't moved away from Gotham yet.

Bruce seemed to sense the unspoken conversation as he commented that, "this is not the same thing."

"What isn't?" Dick asked him.

* * *

Jason placed a bowl of apples cut into cubes in front of Tim.

"They're the breakfast alternative to popcorn," he whispered to the sleepy adult before taking the open seat next to him. Tim seemed confused until the current situation sunk in. Dick and Bruce were verbally sparring and Jason was going to watch and invited him to join. He picked up a piece of apple and popped it into his mouth. It was too early for him to be playing mediator.

Damian gave both of them a disapproving and disgusted look as they popped apple pieces into their mouths and watched the unfolding drama.

* * *

"It wasn't the same back then as what's happening with Robin now," Bruce said to Dick. Dick stood up and glared at Bruce.

"I didn't say anything like that. And, you're right, it's nothing like back then. Except for your attitude," Dick said in a confronting tone. Bruce narrowed his eyes and they glared at each other.

* * *

Damian appeared like stone. Mar'i was biting her tongue to keep from saying anything. She knew her Granddad would not appreciate any comments she had to add, if he even listened to her. But, Damian didn't seem to know what to say and her Uncles were no help.

* * *

Bruce sipped at his coffee, not even touching the food on his plate.

"You know what? I've said it before, 'Robin doesn't belong to you'. The only people who should get any say are those who have been Robin."

"Are you saying that Tim and Jason should decide?"

Tim let the apple piece he had been about to eat drop to the floor. Jason turned away and gave a nervous cough.

"Decide. What?" Dick said slowly and threateningly.

"If Damian should be Robin or if he should go to college; for one," Bruce commented.

The room seemed to pause.

* * *

Tim's mouth hung open. Bruce rarely forced decisions like that on them.

Jason started glaring, nowhere near as ferocious as Dick's but still angry.

* * *

Mar'i shared a look with Damian. Damian was staring at Tim, who was sitting across from him and seemed surprised that the other was shocked.

To everyone's surprise, Jason spoke next.

"You'd force the kid to go to college?" he questioned.

"He's done it before," Dick explained to Jason. Dick hadn't wanted to go to college either and, while he enjoyed the experience, it wasn't one he had particularly wanted. It was just what had been expected of him. "But you didn't have to take Robin off me to do it."

* * *

Mar'i nudged Damian.

"Dad's keeping your secret but, is it really supposed to be a secret?" she whispered. Tim was the only one to notice, his blue gaze almost piercing as he stared at them.

"It's not supposed to be," Damian grumbled as Dick explained to Bruce why he shouldn't try controlling his children's lives. "Just like how I'm moving out of the manor in a month."

"What?" Mar'i gasped, a little too loudly. Everyone's eyes shot to them.

"What's wrong?" Dick asked, going from confrontational to worried father in moments. "Does your leg hurt?" He hovered over her and checked her splint, which she had forgotten about since she was sitting down.

"She's fine, Dick," Jason sighed with a roll of his eyes. "She'll heal quickly, like her mother."

Mar'i gave him a grin as it was nice to hear the opinion of someone who wasn't hovering over her almost all hours of the day.

"You heard him, Dad, I'm fine."

"Then, what was with the cry?"

"That was me informing her that I was going to move out in a month," Damian explained to Dick's back. Dick jumped out from behind them to give Damian a surprised look.

"You're leaving us?"

"I'm moving in with Colin. He's having some trouble making rent and has a spare room so I decided to move in. Besides, he's closer to the city and there's a couple of libraries around where I spend my days."

"And who's going to pay the rent?" Bruce questioned with a frown. He finally seemed to be looking at the people at the table rather than a random spot on the wall.

"Colin's got his work and I've got commissions," Damian responded. "It's enough to pay for the apartment together."

 _'Commissions?'_ Jason mouthed to Dick in a silent query. Dick shrugged, he had no idea.

Bruce seemed surprised. Damian was moving out? He didn't know how to feel about that.

"Why couldn't Colin move in here?" he questioned.

Damian rolled his eyes.

"-tt- That's rather impractical father. Colin needs to be able to get to work and he can't do that easily from here. Plus, Abuse doesn't visibly work with Batman."

"I thought you were going to take that the job at Lex Corp," Tim questioned.

There was a moment of uproar.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Lex Luthor is evil, Damian, how could consider working for him?"

"What is that about, Replacement?"

"Wow. Do you guys talk at all?"

"I don't know what it's about, Jason! I just saw Damian with a packet from Lex Corp-"

"Luthor believes he can buy me with trinkets and offers of high level positions," Damian grumbled. "I refused him, of course. After all, I didn't go to all the trouble to tell everyone in my classes about how he badly treats his employees, just to take the first job offer from the guy."

Jason had grabbed the bowl of apple pieces and started munching away as Bruce questioned in a hesitant voice;

"Classes?"


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 – Alien Photos**

* * *

Damian sighed and shot his father a weathered look. He had already been through this with the Graysons.

"You know, those things people insist you do in order to be considered employable?" Damian snapped.

Jason snorted at the snark-filled response and Dick hid his amused look behind a hand.

* * *

Mar'i looked over at Tim. He didn't seem to be joining in. As if he had heard this before... she stood up and walked around to the other side of the table, planting herself in the seat next to Tim's.

"Did you know about this?" she asked, being vague and motioning to where Damain was once again explaining his college education to the 'mature' adults around him.

"Damian planning to move out? No. Damian's college education? Yes. Who do you think told him about the scholarship in the first place?" Tim kept his voice low so that the rest of the people at the table couldn't hear them. He was also smirking a little.

Mar'i gave him an impressed look.

"Must have been tough, keeping it secret."

Tim shrugged in response. "I didn't think he would actually do it. And it wasn't any of my business. Nor do I care about what Damian chooses to do at college. At least he seems to be enjoying it. As much as one can enjoy having to pull all-nighters to protect the city from crime and get 'that one fifteen page assignment' done by morning."

"Fifteen pages?" Mar'i questioned in shock. That was a lot.

"Not when you're doing a thesis or assignment which makes almost your entire grade," Tim informed her. "Besides, how old are you anyway? Surely you've learnt all this now."

"I'm in eleventh grade."

"So you were kept down?" Tim questioned. The question alone implied that she was stupid.

"If anything, I'd be boosted up a grade," she snarled at him. Jason was certainly the 'Favourite Uncle'.

"Uh..." At least he looked embarrassed. "How old are you?"

Mar'i answered, even though she thought it would have been better to say 'none of your business'. Then again, her height and proportions often confused people into thinking she was older than she was.

"Oh." Tim looked horrified at getting it wrong. It wasn't the first time though and Mar'i felt she needed to remind him.

"Don't worry about it. You also thought I was Dick's protégé and not his daughter as well."

"Yeah, that was stupid," Tim responded.

Mar'i was confused. "Why?"

"We should have considered it. Dick has had a number of long relationships and I guess it wouldn't be completely unexpected to find he has a few children to go with them but, I thought he would share something like that with us. He is the kind of person who goes around sharing pictures and things. He does it with all of us." Tim glanced at Jason and lowered his voice even more. "He even carries a picture of himself with a teenage Jason around in his wallet which he rarely shows off."

Mar'i snorted. She needed to see that. It couldn't be that difficult to steal her father's wallet.

* * *

Bruce was rubbing his forehead with his thumb and finger in a motion which Jason and Dick recognised. Bruce was moments away from leaving the room because he couldn't compute what was happening.

"Okay, so you're telling me that you've been going to college, working a job-"

"Three jobs, technically," Damian interrupted. There was helping out Colin at the mechanic's, his work at his father's company and the money he made off sketches. "And not counting the night work."

"And you're going to move out?" Damian nodded with a face like stone. He didn't know how his father was going to react to this but so far, Bruce's reaction hadn't been encouraging. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

Damian shrugged.

"You never asked," Dick pointed out to Bruce, realising he had made the same mistake with his daughter. "So he never thought to tell you."

A light blush dusted Damian's cheeks. "It's not important. Not like information on Ivy's whereabouts or whatever."

"You're moving out and you don't think that's important?" Bruce questioned, his tone raised.

Jason slapped his forehead. Bruce was being stupid. After all, they were the Batman family. The manor and the cave below it were the only stable locations in their lives. Their apartments and safe houses changed often.

"I've left on missions and things for weeks at a time and lived all over the world. How is this more important?" Damian asked. He didn't get it.

"Okay, okay, stop," Jason said, holding his hands out.

"Stay out of it, Jason," Bruce growled.

"Don't talk to me like that," Jason snarled back.

Dick could see the fight about to start but he had no idea how to stop it. Everything he could think of would make it worse. He gave Tim a look, seeking help.

Tim stared back, face impassive. Dick stared harder, bottom lip pouting and pleading.

"I don't think anyone else here told you when we moved out," Tim pointed out. "Dick I have no idea about but Jason travelled the world without you knowing, I moved out when you weren't around and does anyone know where Cass is living?"

"I thought Cass was living with Steph?" Jason said, anger dissipating slightly at the change in subject.

"Do you know where?" Tim countered.

"Yes," Bruce growled, although everyone else shook their heads. Except Damian who nodded; huh, Tim hadn't thought Damian knew.

"Did she tell you?"

Bruce frowned and froze. They all knew the answer was no, just because he wasn't answering.

'Thank you, Timmy,' Dick mouthed to his little brother in relief. The fight seemed forgotten. At just the right time too because Dick felt something brush outside his pocket.

"Hey-!" A hand shoved his wallet out and his vision was lit with purple.

Startled, Mar'i flew back and up towards the ceiling with a surprised cry of, "X'hal!"

"What just happened?" Jason questioned as all eyes drifted to the ceiling.

* * *

Mar'i floated high above. It was the easiest way of moving around since her leg was out of commission. It dangled below her now, a useless dead-weight.

"Did she just pick your pocket?" Damian asked Dick. "Why?"

"Oh no," Tim groaned. He had an idea why.

"Mar'i, you come down from there this instant!" Dick called up. "And give me back my wallet!"

"No," Mar'i responded. She wanted to see if Uncle Tim had been telling the truth.

"Mar'i!"

"This seems familiar," Damian muttered recalling similar situations back when he and Mar'i had been children.

Mar'i had opened the wallet and was looking through it.

"I'll give it back in a moment!" she said.

"What's she looking for?" Jason asked Dick. Jason was enjoying this. Watching Dick with his daughter was amusing stuff. It was nice to see someone who didn't listen to Dick and probably caused a few grey hairs for the older man.

"No idea."

"Money?" Bruce suggested. Dick glared at him because he knew Mar'i wouldn't steal a wallet for petty cash and Bruce was supposed to be smart enough to figure that out.

Especially since Dick didn't carry that much cash in Dick Grayson's civilian wallet.

"I believe the young Miss has found what she was searching for," Alfred pointed out. He had returned to the room sometimes during the chaos to gather up the breakfast dishes. He was not surprised to see that they hadn't eaten a lot. There had been a lot of noise from here.

Mar'i had indeed found what she was searching for. The picture of her dad with his arm slung around a young Jason Todd.

"Uncle Jason has freckles?" she questioned with a grin, looking from the picture to the grown up.

"You still have that?" Jason said to Dick in a high pitch. Suddenly, this wasn't as amusing.

"Who told her about-" Dick's question was cut off as Mar'i gave a happy cheer.

"I'm in here!" She floated down, holding a piece of paper in her hand. It was a photo of Gotham's sky with green and purple streaks in it.

* * *

Damian had seen it before. Dick had shown him that picture with what he could only call fatherly pride.

"Aren't you seven in that picture?" he questioned, knowingly getting her age wrong.

"I was _nine_!" she snapped in response. "And if you hadn't noticed, I'm taller than you."

"Uh-huh," Damian responded in an unimpressed tone. "Doesn't make you more mature, _girl Grayson_." Alfred cleared his throat. Silence filled the room as he instantly had everyone's attention.

"Breakfast will be over in ten minutes," he said. "Make sure to eat your fill before then."

Everyone's attention went back to the food. However, that didn't mean that Damian and Mar'i's banter had gone unnoticed.

Mar'i didn't mind. She was just happy to find her picture in her dad's wallet. It was obvious that he kept a few pictures of people he cared about in there. It wasn't until she saw that picture that she realised she wanted some sign that her dad was proud of her. She knew her existence was a shock to his family; her grandfather, uncles and aunts. She knew that they might be angry that Dick kept her secret. But she couldn't help feeling forgotten.

It felt easier to sit at the table and eat, knowing that he dad kept pictures of her with the rest of his family. There was a physical reminder behind the picture of a young, round faced Uncle Jason that she was also a part of this family.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24 - [Insert Vigilante Name Here]**

* * *

Mar'i was late for school but no one seemed to care. She guessed that coming in on crutches and looking like she had lost a few rounds to a truck or something helped. Many people just seemed surprised to see her at school.

She had to admit, it would have been nicer to be at home. She couldn't float while at school so she was stuck using a crutch to get around.

"Girl, you shouldn't be here," Nikki commented as she took Mar'i's books from where they were balancing precariously.

"How are you even upright?" Tegan questioned, looking Mar'i up and down. With a foot in a cast and the opposite arm in a sling, Mar'i was finding remaining upright difficult after trying to get to classes on time. She had almost exposed her powers a few times as she used them subtly to stay standing.

"It's not as easy as it looks," she responded nervously. It was uncomfortable and made her body ache. Above-human strength didn't help when crutches and overly-conscious steps jarred and poked at every bruise and sore part.

"Maybe you should get a cute older guy to help you out?" Nikki mused with a flutter of her eyelashes.

"What 'cute older guy'?" Mar'i asked with a sinking feeling in her gut. A face flashed into her mind, one with tan skin, dark hair but light eyes which had seen the world.

"Colin! Duh!" Nikki responded with a grin. "Come on, you two'd be totally adorable together."

Tegan rolled her eyes while Ellie sighed and shook her head.

"Not everyone wants to be matched up," Ellie pointed out.

"You're just saying that because the guy I matched you up with was arrested three days later for selling drugs."

"And why do you think that is? I turned him in," Ellie responded as if it was obvious. She snorted. "He tried to hide his stuff at my house. I'm not getting into any of that."

"So you got one bad boy. That doesn't mean all guys are bad," Nikki countered.

"Can we talk about something else?" Mar'i sighed. Maybe she needed to find other people to hang out with. Ones not so interested in 'dating' and 'boys'. Mar'i felt she had other things to be interested in. Like being a vigilante. Like whether the light her powers emitted helped plants to grow and whether her dad would let her buy an excess of household cleaning products to experiment on their effects when used on plants.

There was silence for a moment before Tegan spoke up.

"What do you guys think about art as a career?" she said quietly.

It took a moment for that to sink in before Ellie responded. "You'll have to be a little clearer than that. Like painting?"

"I was thinking more like comics or animating..."

"Sounds awesome," Mar'i said. "I can't even imagine doing anything like that."

"Maybe," Tegan said, not sounding confident about that at all, despite being the one who wanted to do it. "But, I don't know what Gotham's art programs are like."

"I've heard they're good," Nikki responded. "But I've also heard they're not."

"Everyone has a different story," Ellie mused.

"Helpful," Tegan sighed. Mar'i paused and leant against the wall as she pulled out her phone.

A quick text later and she had a little information on the best art colleges as well as how Gotham measured up. Damian had the list memorised, for some reason.

"Now that's helpful," Tegan commented with a grin.

* * *

Mar'i floated over to the couch and planted herself on the cushy seats. Her dad eyed her with envy. She knew it was because she was more mobile with her leg in a cast than he had ever been.

"That's my 'normal girl' quota for the rest of the week done," she pointed out as she just relaxed.

"Your what? There are quotas for normal?" Damian questioned in confusion. 

Dick laughed.

"Not exactly. She's just complaining because school is 'boring'," he explained with air quotations.

"Oh. What was that text for anyway? Thinking of going arts student instead of science?"

"Arts?" Dick questioned.

"Someone at school asked. She was thinking of doing arts. I get the feeling her parents don't like the idea." Mar'i knew what that felt like. However, Tegan was probably going to have it rougher than her and her 'I want to be a vigilante' determination. The other girls suspected that her parents were going to throw her out if she didn't ' _get a real job_ '. At least Mar'i knew her dad wouldn't throw her out for any of her choices.

"Understandable," Damian commented. Mar'i and Dick gave him confused looks.

"But, you like art?" Dick questioned.

"And you knew enough about the course," Mar'i added.

Damian smirked at them bitterly, not letting his own confusion show.

"I meant, it's understandable how she might not have her parents' blessing." He suddenly seemed to shrink under the sympathetic looks coming from both Graysons. It made him nervous and he grabbed his laptop, intending to leave.

Maybe he would spend a few hours with Colin.

"Damian," Mar'i whined as he started to leave. She realised too late that they had somehow, unintentionally hurt him.

"Damian," Dick stated, his voice normal. "Sit down."

"I'll see you in a few hours," Damian responded, ignoring the order.

"Sit. Down." Dick's voice slipped into a deeper register. It was something closer to Batman's voice than his own.

The voice combined with Dick moving to stand in his path meant that Damian found himself back on the couch.

"What's going on?" Dick demanded to know.

"Nothing," Damian insisted. Dick glared. He didn't believe that.

"Is something going on with Bruce?"

"Father mentioned that I should assist him with his next case," Damian muttered. "As Robin."

Mar'i grinned. Despite Damian's mood, this sounded like a good thing.

"What's the catch?" Dick asked as he knew Bruce well enough to know that Damian wouldn't be upset about this unless there had been some kind of condition.

"I don't know. I just don't feel happy about it. It's more annoying than anything."

Dick's eyes flashed with realisation. He should have known that this was coming. Although, he had expected a fistfight or something between Batman and Robin to bring this up. It seemed Damian's current distance from Bruce was working in everyone's favour as it kept both stubborn father and son from trying to kill each other.

"What is it?" Damian asked, noticing the thoughtful expression on Dick's face.

"Damian, do you want to continue the fight against crime?" Dick asked.

"Of course!" Damian's reply was instantaneous and forceful. Mar'i didn't blame him as she had to swallow her own immediate response; her dad wasn't asking her.

"Do you want to be Batman's Robin?"

Damian was silent as he thought about that one. He didn't really have an answer to that. He decided to go with what felt natural to claim.

"-tt-. Of course. It's the stepping stone on my becoming worthy of baring father's mantle."

"You want to be Batman," Dick stated with a sigh. He was frowning.

"I don't care if you don't agree," Damian countered. "It's my life. My choice."

"I know."

* * *

Mar'i felt a little like third wheel. This wasn't a conversation she could follow properly, even with everything her father had told her. She had noticed that Damian's speech had momentarily shifted to a more formal way of speaking, complete with a lit not quite American and more British.

"Why can't he be Batman?" Mar'i asked. She felt like she was intruding however, she also felt she needed to remind them that she was there. So she said the first thing which seemed relevant to the conversation. "He's already proven he can do it."

Her dad stared at her for a moment, processing what she had said. A moment later, a wide and mischievous smile grew on his face. Both the young adults on the couch shared looks before Mar'i asked what he was thinking about.

"I have a plan," Dick said with a grin, proceeding to outline his idea. Damian's expressions went from surprise to acceptance with a little bit of excitement sparking in his eyes.

"Could I really do that?" he questioned.

Mar'i wondered that too, even as her dad nodded. If she had pulled that kind of thing under Dick's nose, her dad would probably have killed her.

Her trail of thought went from that to her uncles.

"Maybe we should let Uncle Jason and Tim in on this?" she suggested. "Otherwise, they could mess everything up."

"If we have to," Damian said with what was supposed to be a disgruntled sigh. The grin on his face ruined the effect.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25 - Manipulative Grayson x 2**

* * *

Mar'i healed quicker than a regular human and for that, she was very thankful. She healed in over a week and it didn't take much convincing for her dad to let her go out again. It was difficult to tell if that was because he trusted her or if he had just had enough of her complaining about not being able to go out.

Maybe it was a little bit of both, although that was hard to remember when her dad kept making the comment, _'was I this bad whenever I injured my legs?'_

The answer to that question was a resounding, 'yes'. From Alfred none the less.

Mar'i was healed and Nightstar was free to move around the city. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop, enjoying the sparkle of the lights as she leapt past.

* * *

" _Round and round the rope goes, where it stops, nobody knows_!" Nightstar sung as she tied a criminal to a pole. This way he would still be here when the police arrived and she wouldn't.

There was a groan and a flash of dark clothing from the nearby alley.

"What?" Nightstar demanded to know, hands on hips and eyes glowing behind her mask.

"I can't believe you both sing. You know that's the most annoying thing about your father, right?"

A synthetically altered voice. Not exactly the person she would expect to see in a well-off shopping area.

She greeted him enthusiastically anyway. "Red Hood!"

"That's me," he said, emerging from the darkness. "So, you're just taking out whatever crime you come across, yeah?"

"Pretty much," she responded with a shrug. Her father had made her promise not to do anything to 'strenuous' for a few nights, at least.

"Thinking of teaming up with the newest dark night?" he asked jokingly.

Nightstar's mouth twisted into a lopsided smile at the thought. She knew that Batman had been furious when Damian started patrolling in his own Batsuit complete with dark trenchcoat. He had started to cool down, mostly because he had been unable to catch Damian for more than a few moments.

"I thought Batman works alone?" she joked, "you know, except for Robin. And I'm not looking to sign on as a sidekick."

"Hey! Robin's more than a sidekick!" Red Hood instantly responded. A moment later he composed himself. "Don't tell your dad I said that."

"Sure," she responded, "but only because you're helping us with the 'New Batman' plan."

"Don't call it that," Red Hood sighed, shaking his head. "Not unless you want the original Batman getting the wrong idea. Didn't your dad teach you anything? Don't make the Batman angry."

"Like he isn't already?" she laughed.

Red Hood's glove squeezed some warmth into her shoulder as he moved closer.

"I can't believe your dad hid you away all these years. You're awesome, kid."

Nightstar grinned blindly, heart feeling swollen with warm feelings. It was nice being able to finally spend time with the family she used to only hear about in stories.

* * *

Jason had been sceptical of the plan when Dick first told him about it. It didn't help that he, Damian and Mar'i had crashed his apartment while he had been having a shower.

"You're going to what?" he questioned, unsure if he had heard right. It didn't sound like a good plan. "Didn't Bruce just forgive the brat for the last time he did that? And now you want to do it while he's still in the city?"

"It's not like we're asking you to help Damian or anything," Dick said, "just to, ignore it, I guess?"

"It's going to happen, with or without your consent, Jason Todd," Damian sneered, glaring across at his older brother.

"We're just letting you know. Better to find out now rather than when Bruce approaches you about it."

Jason had stared at her for a few moments. Then turned to Damian.

"Fine, whatever. Consider me informed."

Damian smirked. Mar'i smiled at him. It was one down and only two to go. However, Dick didn't seem to think so.

"You're okay with it?" Dick asked.

"Of course I am, you idiot."

"So, if Damian became a new Batman, you can get behind him?" Dick narrowed his eyes at Jason and Jason mirrored the motion.

Damian seemed confused for a moment. Mar'i was too.

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?" Jason responded with an angry tinge to his voice. "If it comes down to Bruce or the kid, I can't say which side I'd go with."

Wait. Had her father just asked whether Jason would side with Damian against Bruce, if it came down to that?

"Gr- Richard?"

"Jason, if you let Damian go out as Batman, knowingly, then you're siding against Bruce in this instance." There was a tense silence which Dick broke when he shrugged. "Just letting you know that this small action could be seen as taking a side."

"Now I see what you're after. In this instance, yes. The br- I mean, Damian can give this a go. I don't care."

Finally Dick smiled and nodded his agreement.

"What just happened?" Mar'i questioned.

Jason pet her head. "Don't worry about it. Your dad's just being manipulative. But, if this is how he's going to go about it, there's some hope for this plan after all. As long as Damian can handle being Batman."

"I'm not replacing father," Damian pointed out. "It's not like people won't be able to tell us apart."

* * *

"I'm not replacing father," Damian was forced to point out, again, just a few hours later.

Tim wasn't as easily convinced as Jason was. He glared at Damian and told Dick that the plan was stupid.

"Look the plan is-"

"Do you want to be Batman, then?" Mar'i demanded to know. She was tired of this. They were going round and round. Dick would explain the plan, Tim would question the plan, Damian would insist that Tim had it wrong and usually topped that off with some insult directed at the older but shorter man and then Dick would explain the plan again and the cycle would repeat.

"Bruce isn't going to let just anyone out as Batman," Tim pointed out.

"That's not an answer," Dick said. "Yes or no?"

Tim scowled at her and her father. Although unintentional, they were teaming up on him.

"No," he huffed.

"Then why can't Damian go out as Batman?" Dick asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Tim responded fiercely. "He's irresponsible and there's no way he can put up with the kind of stuff Bruce does and-"

"He did for a week," Dick said. "He kept the reports going and he managed to catch a serial killer we were just getting wind of."

Tim frowned but they could see that he did consider that point.

"We're not asking you to approve, just to not be surprised or help Bruce shut Damian down," Dick finished.

There was silence for a moment. Damian's face slowly turned from a frown to a scowl.

"Fine," Tim huffed. "I don't care what Damian does as long as it doesn't put anyone in danger."

"We are leaving Batman without a Robin," Mar'i pointed out as it was something she recalled her father saying. Tim had become Robin because Batman needed a Robin.

"But we're not leaving him completely alone," Dick reminded her in a serious tone.

Tim rolled his eyes and turned back to his computer. Dick splayed himself over the top of the chair, looking at the computer screen as Tim worked. Damian and Mar'i went outside.

Night was about to fall and they had one more stop to make.

* * *

Oracle was at her computer when they snuck in.

"Dick warned me you were coming," she said, not even turning around.

Mar'i was able to see the annoyed expression Damian made and hear the curse he muttered under his breath. Oracle chuckled as she swung around to look at them.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: This is the final chapter. Those who look at my tumblr probably know what a pain it was to write this chapter. I had a feeling it would end the story but it was difficult to get there. I hope it doesn't disappoint. However, if there was anything else in this universe you wanted to say, leave it in your comment and I might consider doing an extra chapter of things people want to see.   
> Extra note: So I updated this to the wrong chapter. This is what happens when I update late at night. This also means that the comments on the wrong story were probably deleted, leaving me with no way to reply. I might reply on this chapter with the original comments later (after work). This was not a fun mistake to wake up to.

 

**Chapter 26**

* * *

Oracle had been grinning when they brought the plan to her, eyes sparkling behind her glasses as she commented, "I'm a little disappointed that you didn't come to me first. It would have made convincing Tim a little bit easier."

"It's not Tim I'm worried about convincing," Damian pointed out.

Oracle nodded her agreement with a grave face. "I wouldn't worry about that right now. Dick will try and keep him from shutting you down for a while. Jason and Tim won't take any action against you so you at least have a chance.

"Now, I have a job for you." Oracle turned back to her computer and Mar'i was certain she saw the flicker of a grin on Damian's face.

Oracle sent Damian after Two-face, who had been spotted at a number 2 house for the second night in a row. She gave him the address and he was off.

Oracle had then asked Mar'i a number of questions about her and her dad. She asked if Mar'i was happy living with her father, if Dick treated her well and if becoming a vigilante was really want she wanted.

Oracle kept repeating that she wouldn't mind more visits from Nightstar and that 'us girls need to stick together'. She also said something about the girl's club being so much cooler than the 'Robin Club'; Steph said so.

* * *

 _"It's happening!"_ Oracle announced. Around the city, a number of vigilantes paused at the sound of her voice through their comm.

Nightstar looked across at Red Hood, whose shoulders had tensed.

"Took 'im long enough," he muttered when he spotted her watching. He sounded flippant but she knew he wasn't. Understandable.

Batman was confronting Batman.

Damian had been going out as Batman for eight days before this confrontation. A long time, considering his father should have been able to find him whenever he wanted to.

Night after night, tension between the Gotham vigilantes had been going up. They had been waiting for this. It could end peacefully or it could end in a fight.

Nightstar shoved the knowledge of how likely it was to end in a fight to the back of her mind. She placed it with the knowledge of the number of bets on it ending in a fight.

They were close by. She made her choice.

"I'm going to make sure they don't kill each other," she said to Red Hood before dashing off. Her feet barely touched the ground.

* * *

Batman faced Batman. One shadowed in a Kelvar cape and one bound in a dark coat. Around them were a number of unconscious bodies in a Batman trap that was probably never intended to succeed. Just distract.

"Thanks for your help," Bruce growled at his son. "I'll take it from here." His jaw was clenched.

Damian crossed his arms over his coat and angled his head defiantly.

"Really?" he questioned. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Maybe if you answered my calls," Bruce snapped back.

Damian had been avoiding the calls after the first one had involved his father saying he was disappointed and ordering him to 'stop playing around'. Bruce had seemed determined to solve this as Bruce and Damian rather than on the streets as Batman and Batman. Nightstar wondered if something had changed or if this had happened outside of Bruce's plans.

"I've been doing this for a week," Damian pointed out. "People are catching on that there's two Batmen out on the streets. I'm not trying to be you but, I am going to be a Batman."

"That's-"

Damian could see the stubbornness on his father's face. He knew what his next words would be. 'Something, something, stop being Batman, something.'

"It wouldn't be the first time there was more than one Batman."

Bruce glared. He was caught there.

"This is different."

"No one else has a problem with this," Damian pointed out.

"They're not me now, are they?"

* * *

Nightstar's body tensed. She was going to go down there and give Grandpa Bruce a talking to. He had no right!

A hand came down on Nightstar's shoulder. She jolted and turned to see her dad. She hadn't heard him coming at all! He held a finger to his lips; quiet.

The expression on her face must have said what she thought about that.

"They need to work it out between themselves," Dick whispered to her.

"Like that's going to happen," Nightstar muttered back. "He's not going to listen to a thing the new Batman says."

"I know you want to go help your friend but he can handle himself," her father responded.

Nightstar wasn't convinced. 'Friend?' she mouthed, testing it out. "How'd you know I was here?" she quietly questioned.

"Red Hood told me," he responded with a fond grin.

Uncle Jason. The traitor.

Her father gave a quiet chuckle. "Besides, I don't think we're the only ones watching." He motioned around them.

Nightstar could see Red Robin sitting outside, almost out of sight. Red Hood was flanking the other side of the entrance. Her father pointed to where Cassandra was sneaking closer to them.

Bruce huffed a sigh.

"Back to patrol," he ordered the eavesdroppers with a pointed look in Red Robin's and Red Hood's direction.

Red Robin jumped to his feet, turning so he was visible from the door. While Nightstar expected him to speak, it was actually Red Hood who spoke.

"No way. You might not think so but, this does concern us."

"Hood-"

Red Hood huffed angrily. "Don't. You need to learn to share."

Nightstar giggled as Bruce's face flushed in embarrassment. Even Damian looked baffled.

"We don't get to pick our replacements," Red Hood finished.

"I think I need to break this up," Dick muttered.

"Is that a good idea?" Nightstar commented.

"They look like they're about to exchange blows."

"Didn't you just tell me to stay out of it?"

Oracle's voice interrupted with, "Nightstar has a point, if you go down there, there'll be a fight."

Nightstar covered her mouth to hide her squeak. She had forgotten that Oracle was tapped into her comm.

"Hey-"

"If you get between Jason and Bruce, there'll be a fight and you know it. If you're hoping such a fight will distract from our new Batman, then you're just employing a band-aid solution and you know it. It's not going to work in the long term."

Dick pouted, shoulders sinking and lip trembling.

"It'll be fine," Oracle assured him.

* * *

Nightstar wasn't certain but, she was certain Oracle said something over the Batmen's comms. Bruce straightened and moved his hand to where his ear was under the cowl, while Damian's scowl lightened a little.

"What did she say?" Dick wondered quietly as Bruce left, cape trailing behind him.

* * *

"So, what did Oracle say?" Mar'i asked Damian the next morning. He had offered to drop her off at school before heading over to the garage to help Colin with the latest job at the mechanic's. It sounded like some kind of older model of car as Colin sounded afraid to even touch it over the phone.

"Something about how Bruce and your father had made two Batmen work. Plus, she said something about how he had complained not having Batman as spread through the city as he wanted. He even stated that he wouldn't have minded having another to scout places of the city he couldn't make it to in one night."

Mar'i raised her eyebrows. Grandpa Bruce had been pushing Damian out of the work even though he needed the help. "That idiot."

"Not nice," Damian said with a grin.

"Don't have to be nice all the time."

"Father's going to split the city between us. Gotham's really expanded over the past five years. He might not say it, but I think Nightstar's help will be appreciated."

"Hmm," Mar'i mused, as Damian pulled up outside her school. "She might have to check her timetable."

"If it helps, I know what she's doing Saturday," Damian said. He had a savage grin on his face, one which made Mar'i worry about her future.

"What?" she questioned, tilting her head in confusion. She didn't remember making any plans.

"Helping me move in to my new apartment."

"What?" He didn't even bother to ask!

"Your father volunteered your services. Blame him," Damian said, getting the last word as he drove off.

Mar'i was frozen on the path for a few moments.

She pulled out her phone. As predicted, her father didn't pick up.

She left a message, starting with a very vexed bellow of: **"DAD!"**


End file.
